Žak Ozmo

Music Director, Lutenist, Scholar

Žak Ozmo first started his musical training at the age of seven on the classical guitar and had his first broadcasted solo performance at the age of fourteen. After years of musical training and performances he turned his attention fully to the study of early plucked instruments, performance practice, and related history and philosophy. His pursuit of historically-informed performance practice and musical direction included studies with James Tyler, Pat O'Brien, and Bill Carter, among others. Žak holds a doctorate in early music performance from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, along with postgraduate qualifications in the same area from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Hailed by Classical Music magazine as 'an expert on early plucked instruments', he has performed as a continuo player, chamber musician, and as a soloist across Europe, North America, and Asia on the archlute, theorbo, Renaissance lute, and Baroque guitar. His performances have included numerous recitals, lecture-recitals, and concerts with various early music groups and orchestras (Florilegium, Opera Atelier, Charivari Agréable, Los Angeles Music Viva, and Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra, among many others) as well as fully staged baroque operas, semi-operas, and oratorios (most notably Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and The Indian Queen, Charpentier's Acteon, Rameau's Platée, Lully's Thésée, and Handel's Xerxes and Susanna).

Žak assumed the role of musical co-director in a Canadian performance of The Indian Queen in 1999 and continued his work as a musical director in the Los Angeles and London areas. In London he formed L'Avventura London (formerly Earl's Court Baroque), a professional ensemble dedicated to a historically-informed exploration of repertoire from the Baroque and Renaissance periods with a particular emphasis on early eighteenth-century English staged works. He has also been recipient of various prestigious awards, prizes, and scholarships including a recent Society for Theatre Research award for reconstructing and recording music from English ballad operas. L'Avventura's newly released, and already highly acclaimed, Handel in the Playhouse CD features ballad opera music originally composed by Handel and brought to modern audiences for the first time. The recording has been highlighted on numerous major radio stations internationally, including the British BBC Radio 3, German KulturRadio and MDR Figaro, Austrian ORF Radio Ö1, and Belgium Radio Klara.

Žak has also been active as a lute teacher, collegium director, coach, and lecturer for various early music societies and at the Royal College of Music in London, University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and the University of California at Fullerton. His writings on historical performance practice have been translated into French, German, Spanish, and Korean, and appear in some of the leading journals and magazines in the field. Further, he frequently presents his research at conferences in Europe and North America; upcoming presentations include those at the SECEM, The New University of Lisbon, Handel, Purcell, and Literature conference at the Senate House, University of London, and the Annual Meeting of the American Musicological Society in Philadelphia (USA).