About Alex
Geneva-based Australian baritone Alex Owens is an emerging artist passionate about the power of storytelling through song and theatre. Alex has featured in operatic and oratorio performances across Melbourne and Sydney, including with Victorian Opera, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic, and is now undertaking master’s studies in vocal performance at the Haute école de musique, Geneva, in the classes of Andreas Wolf and Stephan Macleod.
In Melbourne, Alex is known for their ensemble experience across the finest vocal consorts. A founding member of Divisi, a resident soloist with Astra Chamber Music Society and an associate with The Consort of Melbourne, Alex has premiered countless works by Australian and international composers and featured in the festival performances of artists including Julia Holter, Moritz von Oswald and the Jazz at the Lincoln Centre Orchestra.
Previous development and scholarship programs include the Bel Canto in Todi bel canto summer program with Kathleen McKellar Ferguson and Deidree Welborn (Italy 2025), as festival artist with the Australian Contemporary Opera Company (Melbourne 2025), as Ian Potter Emerging Artist with The Song Company (Sydney 2024), the Rising Star with Elyane Laussade (Melbourne 2022), as Young Songmaker with Songmakers Australia (Melbourne 2021, 2022), and as scholar with Opera Scholars Australia (Melbourne 2018). Alex has also participated in masterclasses with Graham Johnson, Lynne Dawson, John Bolton Wood, Andrew Sinclair, Yvonne Kenny and Stephen Varcoe.
Recent awards include the Chris Hayes Memorial Award at the Warrnambool Eisteddfod and Australian Art Song award at the Ringwood Eisteddfod (both 2026). Alex completed a Bachelor of Music (Honours) in the class of Dr. Stephen Grant at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music in 2022 with the Margaret Schofield Award, Rae Banger Music Bursary, Catherine Grace McWilliam Prize, Mona McCaughey Scholarship and the Walter Kirby Singing Scholarship, with previous studies at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School with Jocelyn Hickey and Timothy Reynolds, achieving the Premier’s Awards in VCE Music Styles & Composition and VCE Music Investigations, the Lenton Parr Academic Award, Robert Salzer Vocal Award and Austral Salon Vocal Award.
Vocal Performance
Image from 2023 performance of Venus and Adonis
Kew Philharmonic Choirs (Melbourne)
Music Composition and Arrangement
Alex’s love of storytelling through music has naturally found a second home in their original works. Their art song Fragen (2017) was given its professional premiere by Elisabeth Campbell, supported by the Lieder Society of Melbourne. They won the VCAA Margaret Schofield Scholarship (2017) for their orchestral setting of Eichendorff's 'Waldesgespräch', and the Music Society of Victoria's David Henkels Composition Award (2017) for 'some things are broken...". Alex has been commissioned by the Australian Chamber Choir ('The Gate of the Year', 2024), twice by the University of Melbourne ('Animal Stew', 2019; and 'Underneath these permanent stars', 2018), and Arts Centre Melbourne for their 5x5x5 commissions ('I have...', with text by Amelia Evans, 2019).
Editing and Transposition
The partner of choice for Melbourne’s tertiary singing students, Alex continues to deliver on a reputation of speedy and accurate transpositions, transcriptions, realisations and new editions for performing and academic musicians. They have had typesetting services commissioned for PhD projects by Dr. Linda Barcan and Dr. Jody Heald, and continues to work closely with Melbourne Conservatorium of Music staff to deliver high quality scores as needed. Services on offer include music editing, typesetting, digitising, parts preparation, accompaniment and figure realisation, transposition and audio transcription.
Writing About Music
Between 2024 and 2026, Alex led the Robert Salzer Foundation Library at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), where they produced program notes for in-house and flagship ANAM performances on top of librarian duites. Using a deep knowledge of repertoire and a generous storytelling character, their program notes have been described as “significant and most erudite” (Classic Melbourne, 2024), and outside of ANAM, have also been featured in national tours of MusicaViva Australia.
Selected Vocal Credits
Baritone soloist, Bach: B Minor Mass, 2026 (Australian Chamber Choir)
Baritone soloist, Bach: St John Passion, 2026 (Little Yarra Steiner School)
Premiere performance, Kouvaras: The Boarding House, Carlton, 1972, 2026 (fortyfivedownstairs with Coady Green)
Baritone soloist, the Llibre vermell, 2025 (Kew Philharmonic Choirs)
Premiere performance, Anderson: Isaiah Service, 2025 (St James Old Cathedral)
Manfred, Heggie: Two Remain, 2024 (Nightingale Opera USA)
Joe, Heggie: Two Remain, 2024 (Nightingale Opera Australia)
Bass soloist, Schubert: Mass in G, 2024 (Royal Melbourne Philharmonic)
Baritone soloist, Marsalis: All Rise, 2023 (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Jazz at the Lincoln Centre Orchestra)
Adonis, Blow: Venus and Adonis, 2023 (Kew Philharmonic Choirs)
Bass soloist, Bach: St. John Passion, 2023 (Polyphonic Voices)
Thomas (originated), Fidge: The Eisteddfod, 2023 (independent)
Baritone soloist, Fauré Requiem, 2022 (Australian Chamber Choir)