Michael Bowles

[1] In 1924, he moved to Dublin with his family, where he studied the piano at the Read School and joined the Department of Education in 1927 to embark on a career as a civil servant.

[3] The Irish government considered it essential to recruit musicians from outside Ireland, and "Bowles was directed to travel throughout Europe and audition suitable candidates", which he did in Paris, Lisbon, Rome, Berne, and Brussels in the summer of 1947.

[4] However, during his absence the then Director of Broadcasting at Radio Éireann decided to give conducting contracts to Jean Martinon and hold on to Bowles as second option only.

On his return to Ireland in 1970, Bowles and his wife operated a B&B in Cork, and he held various short-term assignments, including director of the Cultural Relations Committee of the Department of Foreign Affairs (1975–77), during which time he lived in County Wicklow.

In this period he conducted the RTÉ Symphony Orchestra for the last time on 16 and 17 January 1977 in Dublin (Gaiety Theatre) and Cork (City Hall).

Many works by key composers of this period such as Brian Boydell, Frederick May, Aloys Fleischmann, Éamonn Ó Gallchobhair, Redmond Friel, T.C.