
Overview
Background
Samantha’s research and postgraduate supervision centres on historical performance practices and performance cultures. Her published output comprises two main strands. First: the influence and reception of German music and musicians in Australasia, 1850–1950 (including itinerant German bands, and the music of J. S. Bach) and the history of listening cultures in Australasia during the first half of the 20th century (including the impact of the gramophone and radio broadcasting). And, second: early modern German court music (in particular the Württemberg Hofkapelle); professional women musicians in the 17th and 18th centuries; the early history of the orchestra and oboe bands (Hautboistenbande); and John Sigismond Cousser (Kusser) and the musical life of early 18th-century Dublin.
She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (from 2012), and has also held visiting fellowships at the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel, Germany (2004); Clare Hall, University of Cambridge (2007–2008); and, as an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Fellow, at the Institut für Musik, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg (2009–2010) and the Bach-Archiv in Leipzig, Germany (2018).
In 2011–2017, Samantha was an Associate and (from 2015) International Investigator with the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions: Europe 1100–1800. Her monograph, The Well-Travelled Musician: John Sigismond Cousser and Musical Exchange in Baroque Europe (Boydell Press, 2017), was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project grant (2013– 2015). Most recently, she received funding from the Lilburn Trust for hosting a scholarly symposium on Music in Colonial New Zealand Cities (November 2022); an edited volume of the papers is currently in preparation.
From 1994 until 2023, Samantha taught papers on historical performance practice, the history of Western European music of the 17th and 18th centuries, and the history of Western art music in New Zealand, 1850–1950 (including jazz, classical and popular music). She was employed full time at the University of Queensland from 2001 until 2015 (Lecturer–Associate Professor). In 2015 she returned to New Zealand, where she held the positions of Associate Professor (2015–2018) and Professor of Musicology (2019–2024) at the New Zealand School of Music – Te Kōkī.
Samantha has been the editor of numerous scholarly books and works as a freelance indexer; her index for Music at German Courts: Changing Artistic Priorities (Boydell Press, 2011) won the 2012 medal of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Indexers.
Availability
- Honorary Professor Samantha Owens is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Music, Victoria University of Wellington
- Bachelor (Honours), Victoria University of Wellington
- Doctor of Philosophy, Victoria University of Wellington
- Australian Academy of the Humanities, Australian Academy of the Humanities
Research impacts
Samantha has presented the results of her research as radio talks and interviews (in both English and German), including for Radio New Zealand (National and Concert), Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC Radio National and Classic FM), Deutscher Rundfunk (WDR) and Südwestrundfunk (SWR), as well as giving regular pre-concert talks, including at Wigmore Hall (London), Dublin Castle, Kilkenny Castle, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek, and for Musica Viva Australia, Chamber Music New Zealand and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
In 2017, together with Dr Michael Brown (Curator Music, Alexander Turnbull Library), she curated the exhibition ‘An Ornament to the Town’: The Band Rotunda in New Zealand, at the National Library of New Zealand (March–June 2017) and Aratoi: Wairarapa Museum of Art & History (September–November 2017).
Works
Search Professor Samantha Owens’s works on UQ eSpace
2024
Conference Publication
Lessons by Correspondence: Nathalie Dolmetsch, Mona Castle and the Viola da Gamba in 1940s New Zealand
Owens, Samantha (2024). Lessons by Correspondence: Nathalie Dolmetsch, Mona Castle and the Viola da Gamba in 1940s New Zealand. The Spirit of Gambo: The State of Viol Research, Berkeley, CA United States, 15-17 March 2024.
2023
Journal Article
Helen J. English. Music and World-Building in the Colonial City: Newcastle, NSW, and its Townships, 1860–1880 (review)
Owens, Samantha (2023). Helen J. English. Music and World-Building in the Colonial City: Newcastle, NSW, and its Townships, 1860–1880 (review). Context (48), 109-112. doi: 10.46580/cx89103
2020
Book
Johann Sigismund Kusser, Serenatas for Dublin
Samantha Owens ed. (2020). Johann Sigismund Kusser, Serenatas for Dublin. Recent Researches in the Music of the Baroque Era, Middleton, WI, United States: A-R Editions.
2020
Book Chapter
'Seven young men on Hautboys': the oboe band in England, c. 1680–1740
Owens, Samantha (2020). 'Seven young men on Hautboys': the oboe band in England, c. 1680–1740. Musical exchange between Britain and Europe, 1500–1800: essays in honour of Peter Holman. (pp. 257-268) edited by John Cunnginham and Bryan White. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press.
2019
Journal Article
Fourth-class wine from Bietigheim? Employment conditions for Lutenist Maria Dorothea St. Pierre and Waldhornist Franz Anton Spurni at the Württemberg Court, c.1719–1736
Owens, Samantha (2019). Fourth-class wine from Bietigheim? Employment conditions for Lutenist Maria Dorothea St. Pierre and Waldhornist Franz Anton Spurni at the Württemberg Court, c.1719–1736. Musicology Australia, 41 (2), 76-90. doi: 10.1080/08145857.2019.1696163
2019
Journal Article
Pictorial depictions of musicians, musical instruments and music-making in the Stammbücher of Paul Jenisch and Johann Michael Weckherlin
Owens, Samantha (2019). Pictorial depictions of musicians, musical instruments and music-making in the Stammbücher of Paul Jenisch and Johann Michael Weckherlin. De Musica Disserenda, 15 (1–2), 159-177. doi: 10.3986/dmd15.1-2.08
2019
Conference Publication
"Eine schöne Stimm”: Kapellknaben at German Lutheran Courts, 1680–1730
Owens, Samantha (2019). "Eine schöne Stimm”: Kapellknaben at German Lutheran Courts, 1680–1730. International Fasch Festival, Zerbst, Germany, 12–13 April 2019. Beeskow, Germany: Ortus Verlag.
2018
Journal Article
The Music Collection of Johann (Ján) Kusser (1626–1695): A Hungarian Émigré in Seventeenth-Century Stuttgart
Owens, Samantha (2018). The Music Collection of Johann (Ján) Kusser (1626–1695): A Hungarian Émigré in Seventeenth-Century Stuttgart. Musicologica Brunensia, 53 (2), 61-85. doi: 10.5817/MB2018-2-4
2018
Book Chapter
Appendix 1
Collins, Denis, Murphy, Kerry and Owens, Samantha (2018). Appendix 1. J.S. Bach in Australia: studies in Reception and performance. (pp. 218-221) edited by Denis Collins, Kerry Murphy and Samantha Owens. Melbourne, Australia: Lyrebird Press.
2018
Book Chapter
"A gothic cathedral in music": the performance and reception of Bach's Mass in B minor in 1920s Australia
Owens, Samantha (2018). "A gothic cathedral in music": the performance and reception of Bach's Mass in B minor in 1920s Australia. J.S. Bach in Australia: studies in reception and performance. (pp. 101-116) edited by Denis Collins, Kerry Murphy and Samantha Owens. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Lyrebird Press.
2018
Book Chapter
Introduction
Collins, Denis, Murphy, Kerry and Owens, Samantha (2018). Introduction. J.S. Bach in Australia: studies in Reception and performance. (pp. 1-7) edited by Denis Collins, Kerry Murphy and Samantha Owens. Melbourne, Australia: Lyrebird Press.
2017
Journal Article
‘The above mentioned aliens’: Rudolf Mersy’s German band in New Zealand, 1913–19
Owens, Samantha (2017). ‘The above mentioned aliens’: Rudolf Mersy’s German band in New Zealand, 1913–19. Musicology Australia, 39 (1), 1-14. doi: 10.1080/08145857.2017.1332971
2017
Journal Article
‘Unmistakeable Sauerkrauts’: local perceptions of itinerant German musicians in New Zealand, 1850–1920
Owens, Samantha (2017). ‘Unmistakeable Sauerkrauts’: local perceptions of itinerant German musicians in New Zealand, 1850–1920. Nineteenth-Century Music Review, 15 (01), 1-13. doi: 10.1017/S1479409817000076
2017
Book Chapter
‘Er kan zum Muster dienen’: Kapellmeister Johann Sigismund Kusser and the performance materials for the opera Adonis
Owens, Samantha (2017). ‘Er kan zum Muster dienen’: Kapellmeister Johann Sigismund Kusser and the performance materials for the opera Adonis. Transformationen und Metamorphosen. Bericht über die Symposien der Internationalen Händel-Akademie Karlsruhe 2011 bis 2013. (pp. 53-69) edited by Thomas Seedorf and Christian Schaper.. Laaber, Germany: Laaber-Verlag.
2017
Book
Searches for tradition: Essays on New Zealand music, past and present
Samantha Owens and Michael Brown eds. (2017). Searches for tradition: Essays on New Zealand music, past and present. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press.
2017
Book
The well-travelled musician: John Sigismond Cousser and musical exchange in Baroque Europe
Owens, Samantha (2017). The well-travelled musician: John Sigismond Cousser and musical exchange in Baroque Europe. Woodbridge, Suffolk, United Kingdom: Boydell Press.
2017
Book Chapter
Theatre and stage
Owens, Samantha (2017). Theatre and stage. Early modern emotions: an introduction. (pp. 228-230) edited by Susan Broomhall. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315441368
2017
Book Chapter
‘Schott aus Hamburg mit seinen Leuthen’: Connections between the public opera houses in Braunschweig and Hamburg, 1690–1738
Owens, Samantha (2017). ‘Schott aus Hamburg mit seinen Leuthen’: Connections between the public opera houses in Braunschweig and Hamburg, 1690–1738. Telemann und die urbanen milieus der aufklärung. (pp. 41-52) Munich, Germany: + Kritik.
2017
Book Chapter
London, Leipzig or Local? – German Musical Influence and the Establishment of a New Zealand Conservatorium of Music, 1906–8
Owens, Samantha (2017). London, Leipzig or Local? – German Musical Influence and the Establishment of a New Zealand Conservatorium of Music, 1906–8. Searches for tradition: Essays on New Zealand music, past and present. (pp. 46-58) edited by Michael Brown and Samantha Owens. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press.
2016
Journal Article
Music via correspondence: a list of the music collection of Dresden Kreuzorganist Emanuel Benisch
Owens, Samantha (2016). Music via correspondence: a list of the music collection of Dresden Kreuzorganist Emanuel Benisch. Understanding Bach, 11, 39-56.
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Honorary Professor Samantha Owens is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Rhetoric and Symbolism in Late Elizabethan Music
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Denis Collins
Completed supervision
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2017
Doctor Philosophy
The Critical Reception of Robert Schumann's Solo Piano Music in London, 1918-45
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Simon Perry
-
2016
Master Philosophy
Music, Meaning and Signs: Eighteenth-century Topoi in Goethe and Anna Amalia's "Erwin und Elmire"
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Shaun Brown
-
2010
Master Philosophy
Performance practice issues in Albinoni's Concerti A Cinquc Op.9 No. 5
Principal Advisor
-
2009
Master Philosophy
Filling the eighteenth-century void for violists: study of Mozart's 'viola' concerto, K.622
Principal Advisor
-
2009
Master Philosophy
De la sonorité - The Bel Canto flute method of Marcel Moyse
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Denis Collins
-
2009
Master Philosophy
Bach's St Matthew Passion: its birth and attempted resurrections
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Simon Perry
-
2007
Doctor Philosophy
A STUDY OF MOTIVATION THROUGH REPERTOIRE IN INTERMEDIATE CELLO STUDENTS
Principal Advisor
-
2006
Master Philosophy
BEETHOVEN AND THE VIOLONCELLO: THE INFLUENCE OF JEAN-LOUIS DUPORT (1749-1819)
Principal Advisor
-
2006
Master Philosophy
MANNHEIM AND THE CLARINET: THE PALATINE COURT'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CLARINET AS AN ORCHESTRAL INSTRUMENT
Principal Advisor
-
2006
Master Philosophy
FROM THE BIRDCAGE TO THE CONCERT STAGE: THE IMAGE TRANSFORMATION OF THE BOEHM FLUTE
Principal Advisor
-
2005
Master Philosophy
ISSUES OF PERFORMANCE PRACTICE IN THE VIOLIN WORKS OF JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Principal Advisor
-
2004
Master Music
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GERMAN SYSTEM CLARINET: CIRCA 1700-1900
Principal Advisor
-
2004
Master Philosophy
THE CHANGING STYLES IN THE PERFOMANCE OF RICHARD STRAUSS'S VIER LETZTE LIEDER AND SAMUEL BARBER'S HERMIT SONGS
Principal Advisor
-
2017
Doctor Philosophy
"O dolorosa gioia": Death as Paradox in the Late Madrigals of Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613)
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Denis Collins
-
2016
Master Philosophy
Approaches to Harmony in Selected Works from Gesualdo's Madrigali e Cinque Voci
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Denis Collins
-
2016
Doctor Philosophy
Relationships between the Twelfth-Century Aquitanian Polyphonic Versus and Two-Part Conductus Repertories
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Denis Collins
-
2016
Master Philosophy
Interpreting the Early Lieder of Erich Korngold: A Performer`s Perspective on So Gott und Papa will (1910)
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Simon Perry
-
2016
Doctor Philosophy
Hubert Foss and the Politics of Musical Progress: Modernism and British Music Publishing
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Simon Perry
-
2014
Master Philosophy
A performance guide to Mozart's Symphonie Concertante in E flat major (K. 364) based on the formation of style and interpretation.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Denis Collins
-
2005
Master Philosophy
INTERROGATING THE AESTHETIC: THE HIP CONTRIBUTION
Associate Advisor
-
2005
Doctor Philosophy
A MODEL OF SEQUENTIAL MUSIC TEACHING UTILISING PHILIPPINE VOCAL MATERIALS
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Liz Mackinlay
-
2002
Master Music
THE BASSOON AT THE TIME OF CARL MARIA VON WEBER
Associate Advisor
Media
Enquiries
Contact Honorary Professor Samantha Owens directly for media enquiries about:
- 17th-century music
- 18th-century music
- Baroque music
- early history of the orchestra
- early modern German court music
- German music and musicians in New Zealand and Australia, 1850–1950
- history of gramophone & radio in Australasia
- history of Western music in Australia
- history of Western music in New Zealand
- J. S. Cousser (Kusser) 1660-1727
- music in early 18th-century Dublin
- music of J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel in Australasia, 1850–1950
- oboe bands (Hautboistenbande)
- women musicians in the 17th and 18th centuries
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