Paul Bowman
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Classical guitarist Paul Bowman is one of today's most passionate avatars of new music for the guitar. Over 50 works have been written for him by composers such as John Eaton, Ursula Mamlok, Charles Norman Mason, Alain-Michel Riou, Dorothy Hindman, Keith Carpenter, and Yehuda Yannay. Recent new solo and chamber works include those by composers Aaron Gervais, Nicholas Deyoe, Paolo Cavallone, Kirsten Broberg, Katerina Stamatelos, Alessandra Ciccaglioni, Yotam Haber, C.P. First, Andrew Mead, William Neil and Jeff Nichols.
Paul Bowman won 1st Prize at the VIth International Competition for Classical Guitar ("Casa España") in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was a Finalist at the Guitar Foundation of America Competition in Milwaukee. Solo concert appearances include such cities as New York, Chicago, Boston, Berlin, Cologne, Paris, Rome, Geneva, Tokyo and Singapore, among others. Ensemble appearances with New York new music groups include The Group for Contemporary Music, The New Music Consort, Musician's Accord, The Bowery Ensemble and Ensemble Sospeso. Other performances with various new music groups include CUBE, Chicago 21st Century Ensemble, red fish blue fish, Ensemble Noamnesia, notabu Düsseldorf and Ensemble Mosaik Berlin. Bowman has worked closely with composers of distinction such as Elliott Carter, George Crumb, David del Tredici, Harvey Sollberger, Pierre Boulez, Roger Reynolds, and Charles Wuorinen. He has also collaborated with esteemed conductors Stefan Asbury, Heinz Holliger, Steven Schick and Jeffrey Milarsky.
Holding B.M and M.M. degrees in Classical Guitar Performance from the Manhattan School of Music in New York, Bowman received his D.M.A. (A.B.D.) in Contemporary Performance from the University of California San Diego. He studied classical guitar with Sharon Isbin and Carlos Barbosa-Lima, among others. He frequently gives workshops at universities across the country, specifically for composers to encourage the writing of new music for the guitar. His recordings may be found on SEAMUS, Albany, Vienna Modern Masters, Hungaroton, Innova, University of Illinois Experimental Music, and Mode Records. To date, he has produced a 13 CD box set of published and unpublished studio recordings. |
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Press ReviewsThe concert had Bowman busy on all six works, four of them premieres. Exceptionally versatile musician, he negotiated a pastiche of styles with ease. It’s refreshing to know there are still courageous musicians like Paul Bowman. Unafraid to present dissonant sounds and unpredictable rhythms at a time when ‘accessibility’ is the perceived savior of new music… Bowman showed, as he did all evening, that high performance standards exist as much for new music as for old.” Paul Bowman fascinated the audience through a masterful conquering of many layered voicings of the music, his nuances of articulation, his virtuosic Baroque ornamentation and his sensible presentation." Elliott Carter's Changes (1983) left the impression, despite the many layers and complexity, of an inner life in which the composer steps back, is replaced and led by the spirit of the instrument itself. The nuanced usages of diverse playing techniques produced a poetic atmosphere and a gentle flowing of musical results" By the way, he belongs among the best guitarists in the world”. - Rheinische Post (Düsseldorf, Germany) |
Praises From Composers:I must state first of all that Paul is a master performer on the guitar - in fact one of the finest guitarists known to me. I...was impressed by his sense of musical elegance and his deep insights into style together with his incredibly developed technical skills.... Paul is a person of very broad knowledge in both traditional and contemporary musical idioms". "This commends the musicianship of Paul Bowman, whose playing I know from an exemplary set of performances.... His account of the extremely difficult guitar part was not only accurate in every respect, but in addition furnished ample evidence of a sensible musical intelligence." "Paul Bowman is an excellent classical guitarist - dedicated to his instrument and the new literature for his instrument." On hearing a performance of Elliott Carter's Changes: "This is the best performance of this work I've ever heard." "Mr. Bowman is a sensitive musician and an excellent guitarist. He has an extensive solo repertoire spanning the centuries, but with a particular emphasis on the music of the 20th and 21st centuries. He has worked directly with many composers, advising them in their writing for guitar and inspiring them to bring their ideas to fruition." "I have heard Paul Bowman perform a wide range of music...with unfailing eloquence...emotional and expressive engagement that is rare in my experience. His seriousness of purpose and capacity for absorbing and mastering large amounts of diverse and demanding [repertoire] is attested by his recordings....The span of his mastery...would seem literally unmatched by any other guitarist." |
