Tom Owen was born in Sussex, England and studied in London and Hannover. He has given oboe master classes and recitals in the Central Conservatory Beijing, China Conservatory, Beijing, Shanghai Conservatory, the NRW Orchesterzentrum in Dortmund, the Royal Northern College of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Musikhochschulen of Köln, Hannover, Stuttgart, Detmold, Kattowitz, Ljubijana, Zagreb and Trossingen. He also gives Masterclasses in Atri, Italy in the festival „Duchi d'Acquaviva“. From 2017-2019 Tom was a member of the wind chamber music faculty at the Folkwang University Essen, and he regularly coaches the sectional wind rehearsals for various orchestras including the Junge Deutsche and Schleswig Holstein Music Festival Orchestra Academy, where he also sits in the jury for the wind auditions. He was also in the jury for the International Double Reed Soceity Norma Hooks competition in 2024.
Tom is a principal oboist of the Gürzenich Orchester, resident in the Cologne Philharmonie and Opera House. He also enjoys a busy career as guest Principal Oboist in many of Europe’s leading orchestras including the NDR, WDR, SWR and both Berlin radio orchestras, Camerata Salzburg, the Gewandhaus, Philharmonia, City of Birmingham and Bamberg symphony orchestras and the opera houses in Munich, Dresden, Frankfurt and Hamburg.
Tom has worked as a Soloist with many orchestras, including performances and recordings of both the Strauss and Mozart concertos with the Gürzenich Orchestra under conductors Francois Xavier Roth and Markus Stenz. In addition, he has played recitals at the Royal Festival Hall and the Wigmore Hall, London. A passionate Chamber Musician, Tom is also a founder and was Vice Chairman of the Cologne Chamber Music Society "KammermusikKöln" for five years, supporting two busy Chamber Series’ in Cologne and Bonn. From these live concerts, over 50 Chamber Music works are available to hear on YouTube. Tom has performed with the German Linos Ensemble and recorded with the Calamus Ensemble in addition to working with his own ensemble, the Cologne Chamber Soloists, who recorded the first Gerald Finzi Chamber Music album under the "MDG" Label. He has performed in festivals all over the world and was named associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in 2015.