David Bowlin has led a wide-ranging career as a both a soloist and chamber musician, garnering critical acclaim for his performances of a broad repertoire. First prize winner of the Washington International Competition, he has performed as a soloist across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Among his dozens of premieres are violin concerti written for him by Marcos Balter, Alexandra Hermentin, and Donald Crockett, with performances at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and at the Aspen Music Festival.
Bowlin is a member of the Oberlin Trio and the Bowlin-Cho Duo with pianist Tony Cho. He is also a founding member of the International Contemporary Ensemble and was formerly of the Naumburg award-winning Da Capo Chamber Players. Chamber music collaborations include performances as a guest with the Juilliard Quartet, with pianists Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, Robert McDonald, Jonathan Biss, and Jeremy Denk, and with members of the Emerson and Brentano quartets. He has made several tours with Musicians from Marlboro and has been a guest artist with many organizations, including the Banff Centre, the Boston Chamber Music Society, the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, ChamberFest Cleveland, Chamber Music Chicago, the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival, the Four Seasons festival, Ojai, and SongFest at the Colburn School. He has performed as guest concertmaster with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the IRIS Orchestra, the Marlboro Festival Orchestra, and as guest principal with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
Bowlin’s solo and chamber music recordings can be found on the Naxos, Bridge, New Focus, Nonesuch, Arsis, Mode, Tundra, Austrian National Radio, and Oberlin Music labels, with further recording credits including work with Chick Corea for his album “The Continents” and a number of tracks with Lenny Kravitz.
Bowlin joined the Oberlin Conservatory faculty in 2007 and currently serves as Professor of Violin and Chair of String Studies. In the summer he teaches on the faculties of the Kneisel Chamber Music Festival and has been on the faculty at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, ARIA, and at the Banff Centre. Former students have won positions with the Chicago Lyric Opera, the Milwaukee Symphony, the Berlin Radio Symphony, Ensemble Modern, the Komishe Oper Berlin, the San Diego Symphony, and the New World Symphony, and Orchestra NOW, among others.
Bowlin is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, The Juilliard School, and Stony Brook University, where he studied with Pamela Frank, Ronald Copes, Philip Setzer, Ani Kavafian, and Roland and Almita Vamos.
