OCS WebPage - Our Music Director

David Bowser

conductor

David Bowser has conducted music for ballet, opera, film, television and the concert stage, and has performed in Canada, the United States, France, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. He has been music director of the Polyphonia Chamber Ensemble, the St. Lawrence Chamber Orchestra, the Hart House Singers, the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and the Brantford Symphony Orchestra. He has also served as assistant conductor of the Quebec Symphony Orchestra and the Nova Scotia Opera. He has conducted the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Waterloo Chamber Players, the Hart House Orchestra, the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra. He has appeared on both national language networks of the CBC television and radio, and has recorded music for the Oprah Winfrey Show including the ABC primetime special, Legends. In Europe, he has performed on the podium of the Sophia Festival Orchestra in Bulgaria, the Kromeriz Symphony Orchestra in the Czech Republic, the Maribor Philharmonic Orchestra in Slovenia, the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra and East Slovak State Opera in Kosice, Slovakia.

Following studies in flute with Nicole Saumon at the Conservatories de Musique in Tours and in Paris, France, David earned a Master of Music degree with High Distinction in composition at the University of Toronto, and the Diplome d'Etudes superieures II in conducting under Raffi Armenian at the Conservatoire de Musique in Montreal. He also studied voice in Montreal with Marie Daveluy. He completed his formal studies in Austria, studying orchestral and operatic conducting at the Musikhochschulein Graz with Wolfgang Bozic, and at the Musikhochschule in Vienna with Leopold Hager. While residing in Vienna, he consulted original manuscripts in the national music archives and gained from private studies and consultations with conductors including Sir Simon Rattle and Dennis Russell Davies. He has participated in many conducting clinics and masterclasses with Eric Ericson, Georg Tintner and Gustav Meier, among others. He attended the conducting classes of Gianluigi Gelmetti at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy. He is the recipient of numerous grants and the Canada Council's Chalmers Performing Arts Grant and the Canada Councils Professional Development Grant.

Currently, David is Music Director and Conductor of the NYCO Symphony Orchestra in Toronto, the Oakville Choral Society and the Nassau City Opera in the Bahamas. He is an active guest conductor, composer, university instructor, vocal coach and visual artist.

How to Become a Member

If you have a love of singing and a willingness to learn then you can join us. Auditions are not required but some knowledge of music is helpful.