"Rarely does one find such a perfect match of player, music and instrument as this turns out to be. Alain's post-Romantic expressionism seems to find a ready soul-mate in Kevin Bowyer."
Organists' Review

"I am astonished by your brilliant performances."
Fernando Germani

"Bowyer is at complete ease with the complexities of the music, and the resulting performances can only be described as perfect."
The Organ.

"...a superb player, not only technically brilliant, but profoundly musical..."
Gramophone.

"...one of the most exciting organists now active... one of the few musicians at work today who might be compared to John Ogdon."
Fanfare.

“...this extraordinary concert was a spectacular tour de force of virtuoso and characterful organ playing by Kevin Bowyer, whose pyrotechnical feats of digital magic could be observed, but not explained, in detail via the fixed camera in the organ loft that projected the eye-boggling versatility of his wrists, flying fingers, hands, dancing feet and lead weights on to a large screen...”
Glasgow Herald

“...one of the world’s hardiest and most formidable virtuosos… probably... Britain’s most formidable organist.”
MusicWeb International

“unique”
Gramophone

“...amazing intensity of interpretative vision and wonderful use of organ colour...”
Gramophone

Kevin Bowyer was born in Southend-on-Sea in January 1961 and studied with Christopher Bowers-Broadbent, David Sanger, Virginia Black and Paul Steinitz. In his early career he won first prizes in five international organ competitions and his 1987 world premiere of Kaikhosru Sorabji’s two hour solo Symphony for Organ, considered “impossible” ever since its publication in 1925, helped to cement his reputation as a player of contemporary music and music of extreme technical complexity. In June 2010 he premiered Sorabji’s Second Symphony for Organ (1929-32) in Glasgow and Amsterdam – at nearly 8 hours duration, the longest notated organ work of all. He recently completed a critical edition of Sorabi’s complete organ works, a thousand-page project that occupied him almost full time for six years (2008-14).

Kevin Bowyer - an over the right shoulder view
At home Kevin has played solo and concerto concerts in most of the major venues and festivals. Tours abroad have taken him throughout Europe, North America, Australia and Japan. He has released a great number of solo CDs, many of which have won awards. These include many landmark recordings of contemporary music as well as the complete organ music of J S Bach (on 29 CDs) and music by Alkan, Brahms, Schumann, Reubke, Hindemith, Schoenberg, Messiaen, Alain, etc. Jonathan Wearn, writing in MusicWeb International, described him as “one of the world’s hardiest and most formidable virtuosos…” and Gramophone magazine described him as “unique”. He also enjoys playing light music and jazz.

Kevin is a popular teacher and has lectured and given masterclasses in many countries. He is Organist to the University of Glasgow, where he plays for many of the 150 annual weddings. Couples are encouraged to have “absolutely anything they want” played on the organ. He has never turned down any request.

Kevin’s article, Twentieth Century European Organ Music – A Toast, cast as a play set in a Cotswolds pub, in the Incorporated Association of Organists’ Millennium Book was described by one reviewer as “quite simply the best piece of writing on organ music that I have ever seen.”

His other interests include reading widely, obscure cinema, real ale, malt whiskies and looking at the sea. His favourite pastime is sleeping.

Kevin Bowyer website www.kevinbowyer.net