Photo: Elena Sippel

Classical trumpeter Mary Elizabeth Bowden is a highly in-demand soloist, praised for her “splendid, brilliant” playing (Gramophone Magazine) and her “pure, refinedtly to establish a new repertoire for the trumpet through creative, collaborative commissioning projects and award-winning albums. 

Bowden’s 2023/2024 season brings an impressive lineup of solo performances, Assad’s trumpet concertos to the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra, Akron Symphony Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic, and Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra. She holds residencies and masterclasses at Oberlin College, Swarthmore College, the University of Michigan, Rogue Valley Symphony Orchestra, Central Michigan University, Michigan State University, Western Michigan University, Haverford College, Grand Valley State University and the Fine Arts Center of Greenville, SC. 

International engagements bring Bowden to the Isla Verde Bronces International Brass Festival in Argentina, Festival de Metales del Pacifico in Mexico, and Lieksa Brass Week in Finland. Bowden’s Chrysalis Chamber Players embark on a U.S. tour of trumpet and string quartet repertoire, presented by Live On Stage, and with Seraph Brass, Bowden is recording an album of new compositions for brass quintet for Tower Grove Records. A new solo album with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra made up entirely of including four world premiere concertos. Highlights include her debuts with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, where she performs Clarice Assad’s Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra and Shostakovich’s Concerto in C minor for Piano, Trumpet, and String Orchestra; with the Austin Symphony Orchestra in Reena Esmail’s Rosa de Sal and Assad’s Bohemian Queen; and with Oregon’s Rogue Valley Symphony in Henri Tomasi’s Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra. With the DuPage Symphony, she premieres a new arrangement of Gala Flagello’s Persist. Bowden also tours Vivian Fung and Clarice trumpet concerti by living composers will be released on Cedille Records in summer 2024. 

Bowden has released two acclaimed recordings on Summit Records: her debut album, Radiance (featuring new American works), and her second solo album, Rêverie with the Kassia Ensemble. Rêverie was featured as one of the Top Albums of the Year for the Global Music Awards and on Textura Magazine’s Top Ten Classical Albums of the Year. In summer 2024, Bowden releases a new solo album with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra made up entirely of trumpet concerti by living composers, out on Cedille Records.

Among her many creative projects, Mary is a founding member and artistic leader of Seraph Brass, an ensemble of America’s top female brass players that was awarded the 2019 American Prize in Chamber Music and has performed around the world. The group’s debut album, Asteria, released on Summit Records, won the Silver Medal Global Music Award, and members performed on part of Adele’s 2016 North American tour. Bowden currently plays Principal Trumpet of the Artosphere Festival Orchestra and a member of the Iris Collective. She also founded the Chrysalis Chamber Players.

Mary earned her Bachelor of Music degree from The Curtis Institute of Music, and her Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music. Learn more at www.maryelizabethbowden.com.