Chuck Owen, a distinguished professor of Jazz Studies at the University of South Florida, will be featured in the final UNL Glenn Korff School of Music Jazz Orchestra and Big Band concert at 7:30 p.m. April 30 in Kimball Recital Hall. The performance will also be live webcast.
Owen will also be in residence with the Glenn Korff School of Music’s Composition and Jazz Studies programs and host master classes during the week at UNL. Owen serves as the founding director of the USF Center for Jazz Composition. As a nationally respected educator, having established and developed USF’s acclaimed jazz program, he is recognized equally for his unique compositional voice.
As the recipient of a 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship, Owen has written for or had his compositions performed by: Netherlands’ Metropole Orchestra, Brussels Jazz Orch., Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orch., Tonight Show Orchestra, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony and numerous others.
Owen’s primary creative outlet, however, is his own 18-piece Jazz Surge. Founding the ensemble in 1995, Owen serves as conductor, primary composer and arranger, and producer of its five highly feted CDs. The ensemble has been featured at prominent jazz fests as well as at conferences in New York, Atlanta and New Orleans. Owen is also the recipient of the 2000 IAJE/ASCAP Commission and three Florida Artist Fellowships.
Owen has served as president of the International Association for Jazz Education, as a “governor” for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and as a panelist for the Pulitzer Prize in Music, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Grammy Awards and numerous regional arts associations.
As the director of the USF Jazz Ensemble for 22 years, he led the group in performances at international jazz festivals as well as with renowned guest artists, such as Ray Charles, Doc Severinson and Lionel Hampton. He is the recipient of the President’s Award for Faculty Excellence as well as the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award.
