Director, 1999–2012
Gordon W. Bowie, Ph.D.
Montgomery Village Community Band is proud to have Dr. Gordon W. Bowie as its Director. Dr. Bowie became our director in 1999 after relocating to Washington, D.C. from the great state of Maine, where he had a 32-year career in music and music education. His experience includes many years as Principal and Bass Trombonist of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra (Bangor, Maine) and also as Conductor of the Bangor Band, which he led from 1985 to 1997. The Bangor Band, a semi-professional New England town band dating back to 1859, is said to be the second oldest continuous community band in the nation. Anyone familiar with the march form will recognize the name of composer and conductor R. B. Hall. A specialty of the Bangor Band under Dr. Bowie's direction was the music of R. B. Hall, who was Maine's own march composer and a contemporary of John Philip Sousa. Further, R. B. Hall had also conducted the Bangor Band a century earlier. In parallel, Dr. Bowie has also composed numerous marches, including the "U. S. S. MAINE" march, (commissioned for performance at the christening of the Trident submarine SSBN 741, the U. S. S. Maine, in 1994) and CARLISLE, commissioned to be the official march of the USAWC at Carlisle Barracks, PA.
In 2007, Dr. Bowie completed many years of work when he published “R. B. Hall and his Bands”, the first definitive biography of the life of R. B. Hall.
Under Dr. Bowie’s baton, the Montgomery Village Community Band has greatly expanded its repertoire and enhanced its reputation. The band has been invited to perform at numerous venues, including the 25th anniversary celebration at the Leisure World complex in Silver Spring, MD. Performance highlights include concerts with guest musicians Ben Redwine and Hal Wheeler. The band also recorded the World War I era march “Let’s Go” for inclusion on the compact disc “Remembering Carlisle Barracks: A Musical and Pictorial Journey”, which was released in 2008. In May, 2008, the Montgomery Village Community Band hosted a successful Maryland Community Band Day, in which eight community bands from across the state of Maryland came together for a day of excellent performances.
Gordon Bowie is a member of the review board of On Line Trombone Journal, as well as former President of Serendipity Press, a publisher of brass and woodwind solo and ensemble music with nationwide distribution. He currently is performing on Bass Trombone with the Virginia Grand Military Band and with Legacy Brass. He occasionally appears as guest conductor for the National Concert Band of America.
Dr. Bowie holds a B.A. in Music from Colby College; a Masters in Music Education from the University of Colorado; and a Ph.D. in Music from the University of Maine. He is currently employed as a Performing Arts Registration Specialist with the United States Copyright Office in Washington, D.C.