Faculty
Michael Bowie – bassist and composer
Michael Bowie is an internationally recognized musician, performing on both the electric and contrabass. With roots in the Washington D.C. jazz and gospel community, he was a recipient of the National Endowment of the Arts Award in Jazz Studies and trained with Betty Carter and Keter Betts. Soon after, Michael signed with Verve Records as an original member of “The Harper Brothers”. He went on to perform, record and tour with Abdulla Ibrahim, Michel Pettruciani, including the Grammy Award winning “Look What I Got” with Betty Carter. Michael has expanded his musical interests and performance to include a wide variety of musical forms from jazz to symphony to rock. As musical director he has worked with many artists worldwide including Patti Labelle, James Ingram, Jeff Majors, Abbey Lincoln, Angie Stone, Isaac Hayes, Gil Scott-Heron. He has shared his talents in the recording studio and on the stage with Sarah Vaughn, Joe Williams, Manhattan Transfer, Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, Della Reece, and Michel Camilo and Ricky Skaggs. He has appeared on countless television shows such as BET, Austin City Limits, Charlie Rose, Radio One, as well as having performed at major venues and festivals such as Carnegie Hall, the Newport Jazz Festival, Playboy Jazz Festival, Montreux, and most other major festivals world-wide.
As a composer his works can be heard in television, radio and the industrial markets as well. In addition to his personal musical career, Michael is deeply involved in developing children’s music enrichment. He is a certified teacher in Washington D.C.’s Public School system at Oyster-Adams Bilingual Campus. As a lecturer and associate professor he has taught at Shenandoah Conservatory, Michigan University, University of Missouri, Fillmore Arts Center and Bowie State amongst others. In addition, he has worked with the Wolftrap Institute for Early Childhood Learning program in Virginia, The Smithsonian Masterworks Orchestra, and the Thelonius Monk Institute.