It is with great sadness that we have heard of the death of one of our patrons, James Bowman. James was a model for an entire generation of countertenors. A fixture on the operatic and concert stages of Europe since the late 1960s, he made more than 130 commercial recordings.
A proud friend and long-term supporter of Wells Cathedral Chorister Trust, we were delighted when James joined the Cathedral Choir as a soloist for a Gala Fundraising Concert in 2009. Another highlight of the Trust’s relationship with James was when he presented a concert entitled Twice Upon A Time with Dr Barry Rose. Both performers entertained the audience with some glorious music, as well as many anecdotes from their colourful careers! Our chair, Arnold Wills, met recently with James at a Cathedral Music Trust event in Chichester at which he spoke fondly of Wells and his pride in being a WCCT patron. He will be sorely missed.
We are delighted that Iestyn Davies’s concert on 6 October in aid of WCCT will now be a tribute to James.
James Bowman in his days as a choral scholar at New College, Oxford
Bowman began singing as chorister in the choir of Ely Cathedral and went on to be a choral scholar at Oxford's New College, where he received degrees in education and history. His solo career began with a successful audition for Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group in 1967. The composer offered him the role of Oberon in his A Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as a concert at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall. Bowman continued to sing Oberon throughout his career, and made an excellent recording of the role for Hyperion in 1990. His association with Britten would continue, as well; the composer wrote the role of Apollo in Death in Venice for him, and also dedicated his Canticle No. 4 to Bowman.
In 1970, Bowman became the first countertenor to sing at Glyndebourne, in a production of Cavalli's La Calisto. By 1972, he had also debuted with the English National Opera and Covent Garden in operas of Handel (Semele) and Peter Maxwell Davies (Taverner). He would eventually sing most of the great Handelian operas, including Xerxes, Giulio Cesare, Orlando, and Rinaldo.
Bowman premiered a number of contemporary works, aside from those already mentioned. He was the first to sing the role of Astron in Michael Tippett's opera The Ice Break, in 1977; he sang Alan Ridout's Phaeton for BBC Radio; Michael Nyman wrote his Self-Laudatory Hymn of Inanna and Her Omnipotence for Bowman; and Bowman was the first to record John Tavener's Akathist of Thanksgiving and a number of works by Geoffrey Burgon.
James’s concert career was equally wide-ranging; in Europe he was well known as a recitalist, and had a large following. In 1992 the French government honoured him with admission to ‘L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ and he was awarded the Medal of Honour of the city of Paris in recognition of long-standing contribution to the musical life of the city. He was appointed a CBE in the 1997 Queen’s Birthday Honours.