About
Professor Owen Rees holds positions as Professor of Music at the University of Oxford, Fellow and Tutor at The Queen’s College, and Senior Research Fellow at Somerville College. Born in 1964, he earned his PhD in Music at the University of Cambridge (1991). His research bridges scholarship and performance, focusing on music from 1450–1650 in Spain, Portugal, and England. He has edited works by Portuguese composers like Manuel Cardoso and studied Spanish composers such as Cristóbal de Morales and Francisco Guerrero. His performances with groups like Contrapunctus and The Queen’s College Choir highlight his dual expertise. He directs music at Queen’s College chapel and has released recordings on Hyperion and other labels.
His teaching spans Renaissance music, performance practice, and choral conducting at Oxford, covering topics like Reformation-era music and Iberian musical traditions. Supervising postgraduate work on Renaissance/Baroque topics, he emphasizes historical context and stylistic analysis.
Research awards and grants are not explicitly listed, but his extensive publications and performances reflect sustained academic and artistic engagement. He leads vocal ensembles in festivals worldwide, including Oslo and York. His edited sources and monographs, such as Polyphony in Portugal c. 1530–c. 1620, establish him as a leading scholar in early Iberian music studies.
