James Bowman

James Thomas Bowman (6 November 1941 – 27 March 2023) was an English countertenor. His career spanned opera, oratorio, contemporary music and solo recitals. Arguably, he was, after Alfred Deller, the most important countertenor in the 20th century revival of the voice part. He combined early and baroque repertoires with contemporary work, becoming recognised for his portrayal of Oberon in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream and performing world premieres.

Life Education Bowman's background was in Anglican church music. He was educated at King's Ely where he began singing as a boy chorister at Ely Cathedral, progressing to become head chorister. After the traditional rest when his voice broke, he returned to the choir as a bass. Around 1959, he gave his first public performance as a countertenor to a school congregation in the Lady Chapel. He later went to New College, Oxford, as a choral scholar and was a member of the New College and Christ Church choirs.

Career After finishing his studies, Bowman was briefly a teacher. However, in the late 1960s he became active as a countertenor soloist, a career which lasted more than 40 years.

Opera In 1967, Bowman auditioned for Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group. He was cast as Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream. The role had been composed with Alfred Deller's ethereal voice in mind. Deller sang in the 1960 premiere and his two recordings of the work have a claim to being definitive as regards the sound Britten intended. However, Bowman, who had a larger voice than Deller and a more commanding stage presence, went on to have a long association with the role, finally recording his interpretation with the City of London Sinfonia under Richard Hickox in 1993. He appeared at Glyndebourne in 1970 in Francesco Cavalli's La Calisto, as the first countertenor to sing there, In 1973 he created the role of the Voice of Apollo in Britten's Death in Venice. The ensemble flourished in the ten years from 1967 to 1976, making many recordings and touring. When Munrow died in 1976, the group disbanded but Bowman continued to work with former members such as the harpsichordist and conductor Christopher Hogwood and the lutenist Robert Spencer.

In 2010 it was announced that Bowman would give his last London concert in 2011 at the Wigmore Hall, although he would continue to give recitals outside the capital. A few years previously he retired from the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace, in London, after a decade of service.

Bowman died on 27 March 2023, at age 81.

Awards and positions In 1992 the French Government honoured Bowman with admission to L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and he also received the Medal of Honour of the City of Paris, in recognition of his contribution to the musical life of the city. In November 1998 Bowman was made an honorary fellow of New College, Oxford. One of his first recordings was a 1967 LP of Baroque music for EMI, Charpentier's Messe de minuit pour Noël, H.9., with the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, and the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by David Willcocks. He recorded Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream in 1993, with the City of London Sinfonia conducted by Richard Hickox.

Bowman's twentieth-century repertoire included Ten Blake Songs and Linden Lea by Vaughan Williams on the Meridian Records label and Songs of Innocence, a recital album of mostly English songs with Andrew Swait (treble) and pianist Andrew Plant. In 2011 he recorded lute songs by John Dowland and others on the CD Songs and Sorrowful Sonnets with Dorothy Linell. It was made available as a digital download in 2023.