Owen Farr began his musical career with the Pontypool Brass Band at the age of six. He soon joined Gwent County Youth Brass Band and the National Youth Brass Band of Wales, progressing to Principal Horn in both ensembles. In 1995, he became the British Open Junior Solo Champion and was appointed Solo Horn for the Tredegar Town Band at the age of 16.
He studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, joining the Williams Fairey Band while still a student, where he was voted Player of the Year by his fellow musicians. He enjoyed many successful solo performances with the band and was also a key member in their two National Finals victories. He joined the Buy as you View Band in 2004.
On graduating from the RNCM, Owen was appointed a Tenor Horn teacher there and also accepted a teaching post at Liverpool University. He went on to form Sonar Brass with Richard Marshall, Alan Morrison, Nicholas Hudson and Shaun Crowther. This dynamic ensemble has enjoyed great success, culminating in prestigious broadcasts such as Listen to the Band and Friday Night is Music Night.
Owen is dedicated to improving the pedagogy of the Tenor Horn and is constantly exploring ways of improving teaching methods for the instrument he loves. In addition to his work at Birmingham Conservatoire as Tenor Horn Tutor and Brass Band Scoring/Arranging Tutor, he also teaches at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and is a Besson clinician, through which he tours the country, raising awareness of the tenor horn.
His designs for Alliance Brass Ltd. have proven very successful and the Owen Farr mouthpieces are now some of the most popular models available for tenor horn.
