He combined early and baroque repertoires with contemporary work, becoming recognised for his portrayal of Oberon in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream and performing world premieres.
However, Bowman, who had a larger voice than Deller and a more commanding stage presence, went on to have a long association with the role,[6][7] finally recording his interpretation with the City of London Sinfonia under Richard Hickox in 1993.
He appeared at Glyndebourne in 1970 in Francesco Cavalli's La Calisto, as the first countertenor to sing there,[6] conducted by Raymond Leppard and alongside Janet Baker.
When Munrow died in 1976, the group disbanded but Bowman continued to work with former members such as the harpsichordist and conductor Christopher Hogwood and the lutenist Robert Spencer.
[3] As well as the Britten and Maxwell Davies operatic productions, Bowman gave the world premieres of contemporary works by composers including Geoffrey Burgon, Alan Ridout and Richard Rodney Bennett.
[16] One of his first recordings was a 1967 LP of Baroque music for EMI, Charpentier's Messe de minuit pour Noël, H.9., with the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, and the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by David Willcocks.
[3] He recorded with many leading conductors including Frans Brüggen, John Eliot Gardiner, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Christopher Hogwood, Gustav Leonhardt and Roger Norrington.
Between 1988 and 2001 he made many recordings for Hyperion Records with The King's Consort and their conductor Robert King, including the complete odes of Henry Purcell, secular songs and church music, Handel's Judas Maccabaeus, the Occasional Oratorio, Deborah, Joseph and his Brethren, Giulio Cesare, Ottone, and Joshua, discs of Schelle, Kuhnau and Knüpfer, and two solo discs of Handel arias.