Tom Bowling

Born in Las Vegas, Nevada, Mr. Bowling started musical studies early, beginning Suzuki piano lessons at 1 1/2 years of age, but wasn’t mature enough. At the age of 3 he resumed Suzuki piano lessons and piano was his focus until he joined his 6th grade orchestra at the age of 11.

At 17 he began performing with the Flagstaff Symphony, and around this same time met Emanuel Vardi. The virtuoso violist Emanuel Vardi is considered by many one of the greatest viola technicians of his time. Mr. Vardi quickly took Tom under his wing, inviting him to move to Sedona, AZ, where Vardi had retired to paint. Under Vardi’s daily tutelege Tom recieved the majority of his technical and artistic education.

At 20 Tom moved to Cleveland to begin working and within months had established himself as a successful freelance musician. In Cleveland, Tom performed multiple times with touring companies including the Houston Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. He had the pleasure of performing with artists such as “Smokey” Robinson, Robert Page, Michael W. Smith and many more. It was in one of these orchestras that Tom met the Danish violinist Hanne-Berit Hahneman, who at the time having just left Orpheus was acting as Cleveland’s freelance concertmaster. Impressed by her interpretive depth, he begun studies with her in hopes of gaining insight into her approach to music, as a living and constantly changing entity.

He gave lessons and sectionals at area high schools, instructed for CityMusicKid’s El Sistema project, and was violist for the Music Outreach Collaborative, a trio that performed live classical music-themed educational children’s shows for 4-6 year olds in the most “at risk” Head Start programs in the city. While in Cleveland he also cofounded a new music ensemble that recieved university residencies and premiered a number of new works.

Tom moved to Austin and began building a private lesson studio. Since being in Texas he has performed frequently with a number of local and regional ensembles.

Mr. Bowling’s teaching style comes from a combination of his experience with traditional lessons gleaned from the priveledged time he spent studying with the emminent viola virtuoso Emanuel Vardi and the more modern approach of violin phenom Hanne-Berit Hahneman, infused with the over-arching Suzuki advancements such as the mother tongue approach and talent education. This system allows the nurturing and native learning advancements of Suzuki to combine with the individual artistic experience of traditional lessons. This creates a young pupil who has both open ears and the ability to sightread. A whole person who can both follow directions and think for themselves.