Welsh violinist Elenid Owen has been a member of the Paris based Ludwig String Quartet for more than 25 years, giving over 1500 concerts and master classes worldwide and recording 20 CDs for ‘Naxos’, ‘Naïve’ and ‘Universal’ labels.
In 2012 she was made Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres by the French Ministry for Culture for her contribution to music in France.
Studying as a child with Simon Weinmann in Cardiff and later with Suzanne Rozsa in London she won many youth competitions including the TSB Welsh Young Musician of the Year and was
awarded the Grace Williams Memorial Prize.
Noticed by Igor Ozim during master classes he invited her to pursue studies with him at the
“Hochschule für Music und Tanz” in Cologne, Germany. She graduated with a Lirst class distinction in 1989. Widening her musical knowledge and experience at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada, she performed with artists such as Frans Helmerson, Thomas Brandis, Gyorgy Sebok and Rivka Golani and as soloist with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Elenid was invited to join the Ludwig String Quartet in 1990.
Having studied with some of the leading quartets of our time (Amadeus, Berg, Tokyo, Kolish, LaSalle) and conductor, Sergiu Celibidache, the quartet established itself as one of the Linest of its generation, recognised for its rich homogenous sound.
Nominated “Quartet in Residence” at the “Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse” in Paris (the Lirst nomination of its kind in France) it coached chamber music over a period of three years. The Ludwig received several Grand Prix du Disque, including the prestigious Cannes MIDEM Prize and participated in the creation and recording of several works dedicated to the quartet by, amongst others, Thierry Escaich, Michaël Levinas, Philippe Hersant and Alain Louvier.
Elenid obtained the prestigious C.A. (CertiLicat d’Aptitude) in France and was invited to teach violin performance and chamber music at the Reims, Strasbourg and Lille Conservatoires. She continued in parallel her solo and recital career, performing at the Wigmore and St David’s Halls and at festivals in Britain and France and was the subject of a documentary made for S4C in 2007.
She now lives in Cardiff and teaches at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
