West End sound designer Gareth Owen receives award for contribution to theatre

Sound designer Gareth Owen has received an honorary degree from the University of Salford for his contribution to musical arts.

Owen has won Olivier awards for his work on musicals Come from Away, Memphis and Merrily We Roll Along and a Tony award for his work on MJ the Musical on Broadway.

Owen said: “I was in complete disbelief but it’s a huge honour and really big thing for my parents as well. I am very grateful to the people who helped me get where I am today.

“A lot of people took a lot of time out of their day to help me in my early career and I have always been very keen to return the favour whenever the opportunity arises.”

He added: "I feel like it’s my duty to return my skills to the next generation."

At the graduation event, he offered advice to students, telling them to take "each and every opportunity", and to "be positive, brave and don’t waste energy pondering what might go wrong".

"There are very few things in life I regret saying yes to, it’s the things that I said no to that haunts me decades later," he said.

In total, Owen has won 21 awards for sound design. 

He has also worked on the musicals Back to the Future the Musical, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Cinderella, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.