Gordon W. Bowie

Gordon W. Bowie (May 31, 1944 – January 5, 2012), bass

Dr. Bowie was for many years Principal and Bass Trombonist of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, a post which he left in September, 1997, to relocate to the Washington, DC, area. In his position with the Bangor Symphony, he garnered more than thirty years' orchestral experience under four music directors and numerous guest conductors, playing the standard orchestral repertoire.

For the twelve years from 1985 through 1997 he was also Conductor of the Bangor Band, a semi-professional New England Town Band said to be the second oldest continuous community band in the nation. One hundred-thirty-eight years old in the summer of 1997, the Bangor Band under Dr. Bowie performed year around with a mixed repertoire including band classics, overtures and transcriptions as well as popular tunes, movies and show music, patriotic music and Dixieland. A specialty of the Bangor Band under Dr. Bowie was the music of R.B. Hall, Maine's own march composer who was a contemporary of John Philip Sousa.

Dr. Bowie earned a BA (Music) from

His many compositions include pieces for band, trombone, string orchestra, brass ensembles, and a large variety of other chamber music. He was a performing arts copyright specialist for the Library of Congress, as well as founder of Serendipity Press, a publisher of brass and woodwind solo and ensemble music with nationwide distribution.

He died on January 5, 2012, after a long struggle with prostate cancer.^[2]

References