Steffan Lloyd Owen is a Welsh Baritone from Pentre Berw on the Isle of Anglesey in North Wales. Having received initial training from Siân Wyn Gibson, he recently completed his studies at the Royal Northern College in Manchester, where he was taught by Nicholas Powell. During his first year, Steffan won the Elsie Thurston competition and was later selected to represent the RNCM at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards in Blackburn, where, after fierce competition from 15 other soloists from various universities and conservatoires in the UK, was awarded first place – the second student from the RNCM to ever win the competition.
Steffan has been awarded with major vocal prizes in Wales, namely the W. Towyn Roberts Scholarship Prize, the Blue Riband Osborne Roberts Memorial Prize at the National Eisteddfod of Wales and the most promising young singer scholarship at the Urdd National Eisteddfod. As part of the Osborne Roberts Scholarship prize, Steffan performed as a soloist at the North America Festival of Wales in New York in August 2017. Steffan visited Patagonia in 2014 where he won the first prize in the Open Solo Competition at the National Eisteddfod of Patagonia (Argentina).
Recent concert highlights include Mozart Requiem with the Orchestre National de Bretagne in Rennes conducted by Grant Llewelyn and Beethoven’s Mass in C and Choral Fantasy as part of a concert with the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales and Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, reconstructing the historic Benefit Concert given by Beethoven in Vienna in 1808.
In summer 2019, Steffan performed the title-role in the children’s opera, Brundibar by Czech composer Hans Krása with Welsh National Youth Opera. Other recent roles include Lord Hate-Good in Vaughan Williams’s Pilgrim’s Progress and the lawyer, Ser Amantio Di Nicolao in Gianni Schicci at the RNCM. In 2017, he performed the roles of Sciarrone and Jailer in a semi-staged production of Tosca alongside Sir Bryn Terfel and Kristine Opolais with the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. Other roles include Zaretsky in Eugene Onegin and El Dancairo in Carmen, both abbreviated Welsh language adaptations for Opra Cymru and George Jones in Street Scene at the RNCM.
This year, Steffan will make his role debut as Escamillo in Carmen with Buxton Opera. Recent opera performances include the role of The Doctor in Verdi’s (Macbeth) with Mid Wales Opera. Steffan portrayed Brenin (King) in the premiere of the children’s opera Cyfrinach y Brenin (The King’s Secret) by Mared Emlyn. Steffan returned the following year with Opra Cymru to play the role of Brenin Arthur in Gareth Glyn’s newly commissioned work Culhwch ac Olwen .