Ruairi Bowen

A finalist in the International Handel Singing Competition in 2020, Ruairi Bowen is much in demand as an interpreter of Baroque repertoire in the UK and abroad, collaborating with some of the leading conductors in the field including Emmanuelle Haïm, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Stephen Layton. An experienced Evangelist of Bach’s Passions, Ruairi Bowen made his debuts at Wigmore Hall, Bachfest Leipzig and Snape Maltings with Solomon’s Knot, with whom he most recently sang J. S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio at London’s Wigmore Hall.

Other engagements have included B Minor Mass with Opole Philharmonic Orchestra and Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra; Christmas Oratorio with Britten Sinfonia; Magnificat at Tilford Bach Festival, Motets with Solomon’s Knot;  St John Passion with both the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra as well as for the annual Good Friday performance with Polyphony and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; and St Matthew Passion with Florilegium; Messiah at the Händel Festspiele Halle; The Creation with London Mozart Players; and Vaughan Williams’ A Cotswold Romance with the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra. He made his debut with the Philharmonia singing Dvorak’s Requiem at the 2022 Three Choirs Festival, returning in 2023 to sing Vaughan Williams Sancta Civitas.

On the operatic stage, he debuted Prologue/Quint in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw at Barnes Music Festival and took on multiple roles in Purcell’s The Indian Queen with Le Concert d’Astrée at l’Opera de Lille. He returned to Barnes Music Festival to sing Satvayān in Holst’s Savitri, featured in Sivan Eldar’s Like Flesh at Opéra national de Montpellier and was an Emerging Artist for Longborough Festival Opera 2022 singing Vistola Flume in Caccini’s La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola di Alcina.  

His current engagements include staged performances of Die Schöpfung at Lithuanian National Opera; First Armed Man Die Zauberflöte with Scottish Chamber Orchestra at Edinburgh International Festiva; Jim Cocks Robinson Crusoe for West Green House Opera; a revival of The Indian Queen with Le Concert d’Astrée in Caen, Antwerp and Luxembourg; his debut with English National Opera as Earl Tolloller Iolanthe and G & S Walking Tour, Cyril Princess Ida with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; Evangelist / Arias St John Passion with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; Messiah with London Handel Orchestra; The Creation with the Hanover Band at the Southern Cathedrals Festival; Mozart Requiem with both Huddersfield Choral Society and London Mozart Players; and Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle at the 2024 Three Choirs Festival.

A graduate of King’s College, Cambridge, Ruairi Bowen was invited to sing on Proud Songsters, an album of English Solo Song recorded with pianist Simon Lepper, featuring distinguished former members of the world-famous chapel choir. His broadcasts and recordings further include Percy Grainger’s Brigg Fair and Nathaniel Dett’s Music in the Mine for BBC Radio 3 and Stanford’s Mass Via Victrix with the BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales conducted by Adrian Partington on Lyrita CD.

Growing up in the Welsh Marches, he developed a keen interest in exploring the integrated relationship between poetry and nature through pastoral song with recent highlights including a recital on Innocence & Experience with Anna Tilbrook, performing Finzi’s A Young Man’s Exhortation and Tippett’s Boyhood’s End for Finzi Friends at Ashmansworth. He also performed on themes of The Games & Battles of Love for recitals at Raynham and The Grange Festival, directed by Michael Chance.

During the live music hiatus in 2020/21, Ruairi Bowen was a Support Worker for the Children’s Section of the British Refugee Council, and formed part of The Hampstead Collective, an ensemble dedicated to performing Handel Oratorio and Bach’s sacred works. He continues his studies with Nicky Spence and Caroline Dowdle, and when time allows returns to Herefordshire to play cricket for Brockhampton CC.

Please note that this biography is not to be used for programmes. Current information is available on request.