Dr. David Bowden
Music Director and Conductor
Born and raised in North Carolina, David has loved music since he was a very
young child. At the age of four, he began studying the piano with his
mother. While in elementary school, he was accepted as a student in piano
at Duke University. In addition to the piano, he has played clarinet,
oboe, organ, and viola.
Music Director and Conductor of the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra since 1997,
David has provided artistic vision and leadership as the THSO has grown
artistically and has expanded its outreach to the surrounding region.
A graduate of Wheaton College Conservatory of Music majoring in piano
performance with a minor in organ, David has a particular love for orchestral
music that features piano and organ. While a student at Wheaton, David met his
wife, Donna, during an intramural volleyball game. Graduate school took
them to Bloomington, where David received his Master of Music in Choral
Conducting at Indiana University. After teaching in the college setting
for several years, David returned to IU and earned a doctorate in orchestral
conducting.
A popular speaker at national and international conferences as well as at
leadership organizations, service clubs, and school events, David is recognized
as an advocate for the arts, music education, and innovative programming.
He has served for over a decade as Director of the New Music Project of the
Conductors Guild. He is also a member of the Board of that international
organization and of the WFIU Community Advisory Board. He served as
President of the Board of the Bloomington Pops for five years.
Bowden has received five national ASCAP awards for programming, has been
broadcast on Performance Today and other public radio programs, and has guest
conducted across the US and Europe. He is a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda
National Music Honor Society and is listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who
in the World.
David enjoys performing a wide variety of repertoire - from opera to symphonic
standards to pops and country music. He especially enjoys educational
concerts for schools, hoping to inspire children to choose to learn to play an
instrument, believing that making music changes lives.
In addition to the Terre Haute Symphony, David is the Music Director and
Conductor of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, the Columbus Philharmonic
Chorus, and the Carmel Symphony Orchestra. He has also worked in church music
ministry for most of his life.
David and Donna, a registered nurse, enjoy traveling together exploring new
places and spending time with their families.