David Owen Norris
Piano, Composer
David Owen Norris, FSA is a British pianist, composer, academic, and broadcaster.Born in Long Buckby in Northamptonshire, England and later attending Daventry Grammar School, he took lessons locally from composer Trevor Hold before going on to study music at Keble College, Oxford where he was organ scholar; he is now an Honorary Fellow of the college.After leaving Oxford, he studied composition and worked at the Royal Opera House as a repetiteur. As a pianist, he has accompanied soloists such as Dame Janet Baker, Larry Adler and John Tomlinson, and his solo career has included appearances at the Proms and performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Detroit Symphony Orchestra.He has also presented the Playlist Series for BBC Radio 4 and appeared in several television documentaries.He is a professor at the Royal College of Music, the University of Southampton where he is head of keyboard, and a visiting tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music. He has also been Gresham Professor of Music and a professor at the Royal Academy of Music (having earlier been a student there)Norris has enjoyed success as a composer in a wide range of musical styles. His Piano Concerto and Symphony were first performed at Dorchester Abbey by the English Music Festival, as was his oratorio Prayerbook, which has been frequently performed and studied subsequent to its premiere.
