![Honorary Professor Samantha Owens](/sites/default/files/profiles/980.jpeg)
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
2016
Conference Publication
J. S. Cousser and the Irish State Musick at Dublin Castle
Owens, Samantha (2016). J. S. Cousser and the Irish State Musick at Dublin Castle. Pre-concert talk (45 minutes), Wigmore Hall, London, 24 April 2016.
2016
Conference Publication
The “Hunting Song” in eighteenth-century england: a copy of James Hook’s "Ye sluggards who murder your lifetime in sleep" from the Zerbster musikstub
Owens, Samantha (2016). The “Hunting Song” in eighteenth-century england: a copy of James Hook’s "Ye sluggards who murder your lifetime in sleep" from the Zerbster musikstub. International Scientific Conference during the 13th International Fasch Festival, Zerbst, Anhalt, Germany, 17-18 April 2015. Beeskow, Germany: Ortus Musikverlag.
2016
Conference Publication
‘Here No Rank is to be Observed’: The Role(s) of Dancing Masters and Dancing Nobility in German Courtly Ballets, 1650–170
Owens, Samantha (2016). ‘Here No Rank is to be Observed’: The Role(s) of Dancing Masters and Dancing Nobility in German Courtly Ballets, 1650–170. 18th Annual Oxford Dance Symposium, New College Oxford, 19-20 April 2016.
2015
Book Chapter
Dalley-Scarlett, Robert
McCredie, Andrew D. and Owens, Samantha (2015). Dalley-Scarlett, Robert. Grove Music Online. (pp. x-xx) New York, NY United States: Oxford University Press.
2015
Conference Publication
The ‘Hunting Song’ in Eighteenth-Century England: A Copy of James Hook’s Ye Sluggards Who Murder Your Lifetime in Sleep from the Zerbster Musikstube (B 9)
Owens, Samantha (2015). The ‘Hunting Song’ in Eighteenth-Century England: A Copy of James Hook’s Ye Sluggards Who Murder Your Lifetime in Sleep from the Zerbster Musikstube (B 9). Wissenschaftliche Konferenz zu den 13. Internationalen Fasch-Festtagen, Zerbst, Germany, 15-19 April 2015.
2015
Conference Publication
‘The Above Mentioned Aliens’: The Internment of Rudolf Mersy’s German Band on Wellington’s Somes Island, 1914–1918
Owens, Samantha (2015). ‘The Above Mentioned Aliens’: The Internment of Rudolf Mersy’s German Band on Wellington’s Somes Island, 1914–1918. Musical Dialogues, 38th National Conference of the Musicological Society of Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1-4 October 2015.
2015
Book Chapter
Tunley, David
McCredie, Andrew D. and Owens, Samantha (2015). Tunley, David. Grove Music Online. (pp. x-xx) New York, NY United States: Oxford Univerisity Press.
2015
Conference Publication
Music via Correspondence: A List of the Music Collection of Kreuzorganist Emanuel Benisch
Owens, Samantha (2015). Music via Correspondence: A List of the Music Collection of Kreuzorganist Emanuel Benisch. 7th Bach Network UK Dialogue Meeting, Madingley Hall, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, 8–10 July 2015.
2015
Book
Music at German Courts: 1715-1760
Samantha Owens, Barbara M. Reul and Janice B. Stockigt eds. (2015). Music at German Courts: 1715-1760. Woodbridge, Suffolk, United Kingdom: Boydell Press.
2015
Book Chapter
'Serious Music': the Brisbane reception of Grainger's historical chamber music recitals (1934)
Owens, Samantha (2015). 'Serious Music': the Brisbane reception of Grainger's historical chamber music recitals (1934). Grainger the Modernist. (pp. 181-199) edited by Suzanne Robinson and Kay Dreyfus. Farnham, Surrey, United Kingdom: Ashgate.
2015
Conference Publication
"Miss Buckland in Dresden": the role of German-trained musicians in New Zealand, 1850–1914
Owens, Samantha (2015). "Miss Buckland in Dresden": the role of German-trained musicians in New Zealand, 1850–1914. Searches for Tradition: Annual Meeting of the New Zealand Musicological Society, Wellington, New Zealand, 31 October–1 November 2015.
2015
Conference Publication
Duplex Genius: The French and Italian Musical Styles in the Instrumental Works of Johann Christoph Pez (1664–1716)
Owens, Samantha (2015). Duplex Genius: The French and Italian Musical Styles in the Instrumental Works of Johann Christoph Pez (1664–1716). Music in Transition: Changing Styles and Approaches in the Mid-Baroque (1650–1710), Birmingham Conservatoire, Birmingham City University, United Kingdom, 2-3 July 2015.
2014
Journal Article
"Won't sing in German": responses to German music in war-time New Zealand
Owens, Samantha (2014). "Won't sing in German": responses to German music in war-time New Zealand. Crescendo, 1 (95), 16-21.
2014
Other Outputs
Agostino Steffani (1654-1728)
Owens, Samantha (2014). Agostino Steffani (1654-1728). Radio New Zealand: Radio New Zealand.
2014
Other Outputs
Classical musicians
Owens, Samantha and Wilkinson, Shelley (2014). Classical musicians. Radio New Zealand: Radio New Zealand.
2014
Other Outputs
The jolly German band
Owens, Samantha and Wilkinson, Shelley (2014). The jolly German band. Radio New Zealand: Radio New Zealand.
2014
Journal Article
'The Greatest Choral Work that has ever been written': Wellington performances of J. S. Bach's St Matthew Passion, 1899–1941
Owens, Samantha (2014). 'The Greatest Choral Work that has ever been written': Wellington performances of J. S. Bach's St Matthew Passion, 1899–1941. Understanding Bach, 9, 75-86.
2014
Book Chapter
An historical perspective on creative collaboration: the composition of theatrical dance music at the early modern German Court
Owens, Samantha (2014). An historical perspective on creative collaboration: the composition of theatrical dance music at the early modern German Court. Collaborative creative thought and practice in music. (pp. 143-155) edited by Margaret S. Barrett. Burlington, VT, United States: Ashgate. doi: 10.4324/9781315572635-19
2014
Conference Publication
"A gothic cathedral in music": the reception of Australian performances of Bach's B-minor Mass in the 1920s
Owens, Samantha (2014). "A gothic cathedral in music": the reception of Australian performances of Bach's B-minor Mass in the 1920s. Melbourne Bach Forum, Melbourne, Australia, 25-27 July 2014.
2014
Conference Publication
"A Hoarse and Impure Voice": Vocal Training at the Württemberg Court, 1680-1730
Owens, Samantha (2014). "A Hoarse and Impure Voice": Vocal Training at the Württemberg Court, 1680-1730. The Voice and Histories of Emotion, 1500-1800. Performance Collaboratory, University of Sydney, Camperdown Campus, NSW, 29 September-1 October 2014.
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Honorary Professor Samantha Owens is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
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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
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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
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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
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2009
Master Philosophy
Bach's St Matthew Passion: its birth and attempted resurrections
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Simon Perry
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2007
Doctor Philosophy
A STUDY OF MOTIVATION THROUGH REPERTOIRE IN INTERMEDIATE CELLO STUDENTS
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
BEETHOVEN AND THE VIOLONCELLO: THE INFLUENCE OF JEAN-LOUIS DUPORT (1749-1819)
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
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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
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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
Doctor Philosophy
Hubert Foss and the Politics of Musical Progress: Modernism and British Music Publishing
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Simon Perry
-
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
-
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
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2005
Master Philosophy
INTERROGATING THE AESTHETIC: THE HIP CONTRIBUTION
Associate Advisor
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2005
Doctor Philosophy
A MODEL OF SEQUENTIAL MUSIC TEACHING UTILISING PHILIPPINE VOCAL MATERIALS
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Liz Mackinlay
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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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