Owen Ho is a Hong-Kong-born composer and conductor based in London. He writes contemporary classical music for a range of ensembles and disciplines, and conducts both contemporary and traditional repertoire.

Composer

Owen’s work has featured in projects and programmes involving the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Bloomsbury Festival (London), Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, the University of Manchester, and the University of Hong Kong. He has been selected or shortlisted for the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) World New Music Days, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Nonclassical, Sound and Music, and PRS Foundation. He is a prizewinner of the Sarah Leonard Song Writing Competition and the International Composition Competition for Chromatic Harmonica.

His musical output includes works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, choir, voice, solo instrument, dance, film, electroacoustic music, and sound installation. His compositional research explores romanticism as an aesthetic, with a particular interest in openness and longing.

Conductor

As a conductor, Owen’s engagements include performances at Conway Hall, Senate House, St James’s Church, St Giles Cripplegate, Silk Street Concert Hall, and Hong Kong Cultural Centre, as well as engagements at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal College of Music, Royal Academy of Music, and King’s College London.

He conducted ensembles including the London Repertoire Orchestra, London Lawyers’ Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Goodensemble Orchestra, City Wind Orchestra, and Orion Orchestra. He is also the Founding Artistic Director of Ensemble Matters, a London-based ensemble specialising in contemporary music and interdisciplinary projects.

Academic

Owen passed his Doctor of Music in Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, with corrections pending. He previously graduated from the Royal College of Music with a Master of Music in Composition with Distinction, and from the University of Hong Kong with a Bachelor of Arts in Music with First Class Honours. His doctoral supervisors are Julian Anderson, Steve Potter, and Julian Philips. His principal teachers were Kenneth Hesketh, Hing-yan Chan, and Daniel Lo Ting-cheung, with further composition mentorship from Christian Mason and Mark-Anthony Turnage.

His studies were supported by the Hong Kong Scholarship for Excellence Scheme, Sir Richard Stapley Educational Trust, Macfarlane Walker Trust, Goodenough College Bursary, Guildhall School of Music and Drama Financial Award, University of Hong Kong Foundation Scholarship for Outstanding Students, Hong Kong Children’s Choir Scholarship, Rayson Huang Scholarship in Music, and Run Run Shaw Scholarship. He also received the Bernard Van Zuiden Prize, Jao Yu Tsong Memorial Prize in Music, and Prof. Robert Lord Memorial Prize in Music, and was named to the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Arts Dean’s Honours List.

Teaching

Owen has taught music since 2014, specialising in music theory, composition, aural skills, academic music, and music software, as well as advising students on conservatoire and university admissions. He taught at the Royal Academy of Music and served as an examiner for Cambridge International’s IGCSE Music examination. He is Artistic Advisor at Orte London and Teaching Artist at Muzon International. More on his teaching career here.