Gwilym Bowen
Tenor
Gwilym Bowen is poised for a promising career with upcoming engagements including Handel’s Chandos Anthems with the Academy of Ancient Music under Richard Egarr, Monteverdi’s Vespers at the Three Choirs Festival, and Handel’s Brockes-Passionwith Concerto Copenhagen on tour in Hamburg, Amsterdam and Utrecht. Further ahead Gwilym joins both the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for Messiah, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for Britten’s War Requiem, andthe Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra forMatthäus-Passion under Stephen Layton.
Possessing a voice of remarkable clarity, Gwilym has an established specialism in earlier repertoire which has brought a number of significant debuts. Highlights on the concert platform have included Johannes-Passion with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and BBC National Orchestra of Wales under John Butt, Messiah with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra under Stephen Layton, Bach Cantatas at the Lincoln Centre with Masaaki Suzuki, and Monteverdi duets at the Edinburgh International Festival with the Dunedin Consort.
Equally praised for his dynamic stage presence, notable debuts have included Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria at the Grange Festival, where his portrayal of Eurimaco and Giove was described as a “stand-out performance” (The Independent, 2017), and Valletto inMoshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s production ofL’incoronazione di Poppea for Angers Nantes Opera under Gianluca Capuano. Other memorable performances include Purcell’s The Fairy Queen at the Barbican, London and an “utterly captivating” portrayal of Sellem in The Rakes Progress for Royal Academy Opera.
A passionate proponent of contemporary music, Bowen has created the roles of Tamino (Be With Me Now) for Festival d’Aix en Provence, with revivals at Philharmonie de Paris, La Monnaie and Teatr Wielki, and the protagonists in two operas by Kate Whitley (Unknown Position and 0520). Other highlights have included Davey in Dove’s Siren Song for Shadwell Opera and Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dreamin Aldeburgh.
Gwilym is a Royal Academy of Music graduate and former Trinity College, Cambridge choral scholar. Upcoming recordings include Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, recorded for Hyperion and due for release this season.