Owain Arwel Hughes

One of the leading conductors from the U.K., Owain Arwel Hughes has become as well known for his interpretations of Danish music as for British, and he is equally at home with choral works as with orchestral. Although Hughes successfully launched his career in England and Wales, he branched out, both in his conducting activities and in his choice of repertory, when he accepted the post of principal conductor of the Ålborg Symphony Orchestra in Denmark. Not surprisingly, Hughes' orchestral/choral repertory includes much British music -- works by Elgar, Delius, Vaughan Williams, and others -- and an eclectic array of music by Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Schnittke, and many more. Hughes has made over 50 recordings, spread over many labels, including BIS, EMI, and Warner Classics. Owain Arwel Hughes was born in Ton Pentre, in the Rhondda Valley of Wales, on March 21, 1942. His father was the composer Arwel Hughes. He studied music at Cardiff University and the Royal College of Music in London; among his teachers were a quite distinguished trio of Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, and Rudolf Kempe. Hughes served as associate conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London in the 1970s. From 1980 to 1986, he worked in the same capacity for the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra. In 1986, Hughes founded the Welsh Proms Cymru, a yearly summer festival of music for which he has served as artistic director ever since. In the 1980s, he also worked as principal associate conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Hughes accepted the post of principal conductor with the Ålborg Symphony Orchestra in 1994. He soon became a champion of the music of the composer Vagn Holmboe. A stream of recordings on the BIS label followed, including the massive Holmboe cycle, featuring all 14 symphonies (the 13 numbered symphonies and the unnumbered Sinfonia "In Memoriam"). Hughes departed his Ålborg post in 1999. In 2003, he was appointed music director of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales. The following year, he was awarded the title of Officer of the British Empire, and in 2009, he was elevated to Commander of the British Empire. Hughes founded the Camerata Wales in 2005 and has since served as its music director. In 2008, he led the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in a recording of Knudåge Riisager's Benzin and other orchestral works. Hughes remained with the National Youth Orchestra of Wales until 2010. In 2014, he was named the professor of performance at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Hughes launched a cycle of Sibelius' symphonies on the Rubicon label in 2020, with the second release appearing in 2022. ~ Robert Cummings & Keith Finke, Rovi