Thomas Bowes

Thomas Bowes is one of the UK’s finest violinists. In addition to his concert performances and classical recordings, he is very active in the realm of cinema, and millions have heard him on the soundtracks of over 200 film credits.

Between 1988 and 1993, Bowes was the founding leader of the Maggini String Quartet and together with his wife, the composer and pianist Eleanor Alberga, formed the duo Double Exposure in 1995. They toured extensively with concerts and broadcasts in the United States and Europe and together they made a major tour of China in 1997, winning the hearts of their audiences wherever they played. They returned to China in November 2019. 

Between 2003 and 2015, he was the Artistic Director of the Langvad Chamber Music Jamboree in Denmark.  More recently, with Alberga, he founded the music festival Arcadia in North Herefordshire, England.

Bowes’s Bach Pilgrimage performance series is a feature of every season and future events will take him all over the world. In 2019 he was given a Sebastian Award by the Ars Ante Portas Civic Association of Bratislava, Slovakia for his “Extraordinary contribution in maintaining public appreciation of the work of J.S. Bach.”

His concerto appearances in the UK, Germany, and the United States have included highly praised performances of concertos by Elgar, Britten, Szymanowski and Walton. He has also been a constant advocate of Alberga’s music, and has given first performances of many of her works including her two violin concertos. With the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and conducted by Joseph Swensen, a world premiere recording of both concertos is due for release on the Lyrita label in late 2021.

Bowes’s recording of the complete Bach sonatas and partitas, SEI SOLO, was released in 2018 on the Navona Records label to great critical acclaim. Laurence Vittes in Gramophone Magazine noted it was “deeply human…unusually communicative…a succession of miracles.” Navona also released Bowes’s EUGÈNE YSAŸE: SIX SONATAS FOR SOLO VIOLIN in 2020. Critics noted a depth of interpretation and characterisation. The recording was nominated for the solo instrumental category of the International Classical Music Awards.

Bowes is privileged to own and play a violin by one of the great Cremonese makers: a splendid 1659 Nicolo Amati.