Young American pianist Thomas Andrew Owens's playing has been described as "elegant, delightful, and truly exciting". Born and raised in South Carolina, Dr. Owens began his piano studies at age 10 with his eldest sister, and through high school learned with various pianists in his local community and at his hometown church. In 2015, he auditioned at Georgia Southern University's Armstrong Campus (formerly Armstrong State University) and studied with Dr. Benjamin Warsaw (https://www.georgiasouthern.edu/cah/music/faculty-and-staff/dr-benjamin-warsaw/). Dr. Owens obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance in 2019. He then began his graduate studies with Dr. Ian Hominick (https://music.olemiss.edu/team/dr-ian-hominick/) in 2019, at the University of Mississippi. While there, he began to specialize his artistry, and became better acquainted with ragtime: "While ragtime is great just for how fun and rambunctious it can get, it can also delve into the sublime with its 19th century harmonic language, seen especially in Joplin’s later rags and in many of Joseph Lamb’s masterpieces." While at Ole Miss, Dr. Owens earned the "Graduate Pianist of the Year" award in 2021. After finishing his studies with Dr. Hominick and obtaining his Master of Music in Piano Performance, Dr. Owens began his studies with Dr. Michael Gurt (https://www.lsu.edu/cmda/music/people/faculty/gurt.php) in 2021 at Louisiana State University. Dr. Owens has continued to hone his ragtime playing, while also continuing to learn standard and outlier classical pieces: "As much as I love playing ragtime, the music of composers like Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, etc., hold a warm place in my heart, and I believe it is best to learn and perform these various styles. Diversity in repertoire is crucial, especially so in our modern era." Dr. Owens currently resides in his hometown of Beaufort, South Carolina and maintains an active performing and recording career. Dr. Owens is accepting new students for the 2024-2025 school year, and is available for performing and recording assignments.