Steve Owen, associate professor of music and Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Oregon, is a nationally known composer, arranger, soloist, clinician, and educator. Prior to joining the UO faculty in 1988 he was Assistant Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Texas. As Director of Jazz Studies, Owen teaches courses in jazz theory, arranging, improvisation, repertoire study, and pedagogy. He directs the Oregon Jazz Ensemble and two of the ten jazz combos. A respected educator with an abundance of enthusiasm for music and teaching, Owen appears at high school and college jazz festivals throughout the country. Owen is the founder and director of the Oregon Jazz Celebration, an annual workshop for college, junior high, and senior high school jazz ensembles hosted by the School of Music, and he also directs the UO Summer Jazz Improvisation Camp. He has appeared often with Oregon Festival of American Music and is a member of its Emerald City Jazz Kings.