Australian Composers Orchestral Forum provides emerging composers the opportunity to work with a professional symphony orchestra
CALVIN BOWMAN : C_C_C Participant
Biography
Calvin Bowman is currently Organist at Ormond College; and Associate Artistic Director of Australia Pro Arte Orchestra. His principal teachers have included John O'Donnell and Thomas Murray (organ); Donald Thornton (piano); Davitt Moroney (harpsichord); and Graeme Koehne and Ezra Laderman (composition). He has also attended masterclasses with Marie-Claire Alain, Michael Radulescu, Jean-Claude Zehnder, Gillian Weir and Thomas Trotter.
In 1995 Bowman presented the complete Bach organ works to critical acclaim, causing one commentator to remark that " …at each step along the path of this massive enterprise [Bowman] is producing masterly interpretations."
In 2001 he was granted the privilege of re-opening the Melbourne Town Hall organ following its multi-million dollar restoration by presenting the world premiere of Philip Glass's Voices. He has also performed as a keyboard soloist with many prominent Australian orchestras including Orchestra Victoria and the Melbourne, West Australian and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras.
He is a laureate of the Ned Rorem Award for Song Composition, the Diana Barnhart American Song Competition, the English Poetry and Song Society Artsong Award and has been commissioned widely. His works have been performed by ensembles and soloists such as The Amadeus Orchestra (UK), Linda Larson and Arlene Goter (USA), The Song Company, Genevieve Lacey, Jeffrey Crellin, Antoinette Halloran, Australia Pro Arte, and the Flinders Quartet.
In 2006 Bowman was the composer-in-residence with the Dandenong Ranges Music Council as part of the Composers_Connecting_Communities project funding by the Australia Council. Upcoming commissions include a Harp Concerto for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, a children's opera for the National Boys Choir, a new song cycle for Jacqueline Porter and Australia Pro Arte, and a Piano Trio for the Freshwater Trio.
Bowman is a graduate of The University of Melbourne and was the first Australian to graduate with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Yale University with the assistance of a Fulbright scholarship.
Calvin Bowman is a member of Australian Mensa and a life member of The Australian Fulbright Association. He enjoys reading poetry, playing chess, and walking. He lives with his wife Catherine and son Oscar in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne.
