Jacob Fowler, Cellist

Cellist Jacob Fowler holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY and the Shepherd School of Music in Houston, TX.  His principal teachers include Alan Harris, Norman Fischer, Brinton Smith, and Desmond Hoebig.  As a chamber musician, Mr. Fowler has participated in several chamber music festivals including Charlie Castleman’s acclaimed Quartet Program and the Thy Masterclass festival in northern Denmark.  Mr. Fowler has performed on numerous occasions for the Masterworks Series at BargeMusic in Brooklyn, NY, collaborating with violinist Mark Peskanov.  Since moving to Virginia, Mr. Fowler has worked many times with Norfolk Chamber Consort, and is a faculty member of the Hampton Roads Chamber Players.

As a soloist, Mr. Fowler performed with the Shepherd School of Music Percussion Ensemble performing Tan Dun’s “Elegy: Snow in June.”  In November 2014, Mr. Fowler collaborated with Todd Rosenlieb Dance Company to perform the Suite for Solo Cello by Gaspar Cassadó with choreography by Ricardo Melendez, opening with great success and critical acclaim.  His performance was praised by M.D. Ridge of Norfolk’s WHRO as “the pièce de résistance.  [Mr. Fowler] sang sweetly…and the result was spectacular.”  In the summer of 2015, Mr. Fowler helped found, and is now director of, the OBX Chamber Music Series, hosted by the Don and Catharine Bryan Cultural Series on the beautiful Outer Banks of North Carolina.  The first festival of its kind in the area, the Series hosted five musicians, including Mr. Fowler, from all over the east coast and was received with great enthusiasm.

As an orchestral musician, Mr. Fowler has received fellowships from the Tanglewood Music Center (2008-09) and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (2011).  He served as principal cellist under Christoph Eschenbach performing in Istanbul, Spain, Austria, and throughout Germany. Mr. Fowler has been invited on several international tours, including the Houston Symphony’s tour of the U.K. in 2010.  As a principal cellist of the Manhattan Symphonie, he has performed on many political and cultural tours of China, performing in every major city in the country, and performed in the orchestra’s Carnegie Hall debut in 2013 in a program honoring relations between the U.S. and Japan.  Since joining the Virginia Symphony in 2010, Mr. Fowler has also performed regularly with the Williamsburg Symphonia and Richmond Symphony.

Mr. Fowler performs at CCCMF 2023 on October 12, 15, 20, and 22