Electroacoustic music composer Owen Belton likes to make dreamy, eery, often lush soundscapes that mix symphonic orchestrations and instruments with found sounds and more traditional electronic drones and beats. He specializes in commissions for dance, theater and film and has had a fruitful long term working relationship with Kidd Pivot choreographer Crystal Pite (who you may have seen recently at the WhiteBird puppet/dance show Dark Matters). When Oregon Ballet Theatre asked Matjash Mrozewski whose music he would like to use for his world premiere, Owen was his first choice. In fact, Owen’s sound palette inspired a seed idea for the choreography for the piece, illuminating the truly collaborative relationship between choreographer and composer that leads to cohesive work.

Sneak a peek at a few exerpts from his eerie, elegant compositions for The Lost Dance below.

An Excerpt from Owen Belton’s “Big Drums”

An Excerpt from Owen Belton’s “Blue Hope”

You can see the results of Owen Belton’s work in the world premiere of Matjash Mrozewski’s The Lost Dance , one of 4 short works in Oregon Ballet Theatre’s spring program, Chromatic Quartet, opening April 19th at the Newmark Theatre.

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An Excerpt from Owen Belton’s “In The Mood Injections”

An Excerpt from Owen Belton’s “Slow Throb”