Described in The Times as “a rising glory”, in The Guardian as an “outstanding” Bach Evangelist, and as “dazzling” in France’s Classique News, Gwilym Bowen is an acclaimed interpreter of repertoire ranging from Monteverdi and Britten operas to Bach Passions, Handel oratorios and Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. The strong lyric beauty of his voice and his “astonishing magnetic musicality” (Opera Today) have led him to enjoy collaborations with ensembles and companies of the highest calibre worldwide.
Recent highlights have included Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Grange Festival, Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Flute) for Opéra de Lille, Bach’s St Matthew Passion and Christmas Oratorio with Jane Glover in Chicago, Britten’s War Requiem with Vasily Petrenko in Milan, Piso in Keiser’s Octavia with lautten compagney BERLIN at the Handel Halle Festival, the title role in Charpentier’s La descente d’Orphée aux Enfers at Buxton International Festival, Bach with Lionel Meunier and Vox Luminis, Schütz with Raphaël Pichon and Ensemble Pygmalion, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Heidelberg Philharmonic, Britten’s Serenade in Padova and Handel’s Messiah with The Sixteen/Harry Christophers in London and Spain.
After studies at Trinity College, Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music, Gwilym had early successes in Bach and Handel with Polyphony/Stephen Layton/Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Academy of Ancient Music/Richard Egarr. A busy schedule of concert engagements has since included Christmas Oratorio across Australia with Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and with Philharmonia Baroque in San Francisco; Bach cantatas with Masaaki Suzuki at New York’s Lincoln Center and with Laurence Equilbey’s Insula Orchestra throughout France; Handel’s Jephtha with Heidelberg Philharmonic, La Resurrezione with Concerto Copenhagen and Alexander’s Feast with Zürcher Sing-Akademie; Handel’s Messiah with CBSO, OAE, BBC NOW, Seattle Symphony and Adelaide Symphony; Ernst Wilhelm Wolf’s Passionsoratorium with Die Kölner Akademie; and Zelenka’s Te Deum with Les Ambassadeurs and La Grande Écurie.
As the Evangelist in Bach Passions and Christmas Oratorio, his performances worldwide with AAM, OAE, BBC NOW, Britten Sinfonia, Chicago’s Music of the Baroque, Auckland Philharmonia and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra have generated particular praise: striking “the ideal balance of clarity, dramatic flow and tenderness” (The Guardian), and “a consistently intense presence, plangent and vocally at ease even in the highest-lying sections of his part” (Bachtrack).
Solo performances at UK festivals have included James MacMillan’s All the Hills and Vales and Monteverdi with Dunedin Consort at the Edinburgh International Festival, a recital of English song and Haydn’s The Seasons at Three Choirs Festival, and Monteverdi’s Vespers at Cheltenham Music Festival with AAM.
His recordings include Walter Arlen’s The Song of Songs with English Symphony Orchestra (Signum), Gerald Finzi’s For Saint Cecilia on Hyperion, Bach’s B Minor Mass with Trinity College Cambridge/OAE (Hyperion), Bach Lutheran Masses with Die Kölner Akademie (Pentatone) St John Passion with De Nederlandse Bachvereniging (All of Bach); Handel’s Brockes Passion both with Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) and Concerto Copenhagen (cpo), and the world premiere recording of Dussek’s Messe solemnelle with AAM, which won a Gramophone Award.
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