Meredith Bowen serves as the Director of Choral Activities, Associate Professor of Music, and Associate Director of the Virginia Governor’s School for the Visual and Performing Arts and Humanities. She conducts three ensembles at Radford, teaches choral music education pedagogy classes to undergraduate and graduate students, and mentors emerging conductor-teachers. Bowen’s work blends a passion for historical music by women composers with a commitment to socially conscious programming, which she uses to inspire student engagement and foster artistic growth.

At Radford, Bowen has curated meaningful, socially conscious performances, such as “Please Stay: Your Story is Not Over,” a concert addressing suicide awareness, and “Journey & Refuge: We Can Mend the Sky,” a collaboration supporting the Blacksburg Refugee Partnership. Other impactful projects include “We Shall Overcome,” a concert recorded and streamed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which connected civil rights era protest music to the Black Lives Matter movement, and “For the Sake of Our Children,” a powerful call to end gun violence. In 2018, she traveled to Kenya through the American Choral Directors Association International Exchange program. In 2019, she was awarded the American Choral Directors Diverse Voices Collaborative Grant, resulting in a three-movement commissioned work for treble choirs, which premiered at Carnegie Hall. In 2024, she was honored with the inaugural Distinguished Faculty Award from Radford’s College of Visual and Performing Arts.

In addition to her academic and artistic roles, Bowen maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator nationwide. She is a founding singer and Artistic Administrator for mirabai, a professional women’s ensemble under the direction of Dr. Sandra Snow. She serves as President of the Virginia chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, and her leadership extends to the Choral Advisory Council for the Institute for Composer Diversity. Bowen’s scholarly contributions include journal articles, edited musical works, and a resource on choral music by women composers, with editions published by Boosey & Hawkes and MusicSpoke.

Before her work at Radford, Bowen taught public school in Lansing, MI, and directed community ensembles such as Sistrum – Lansing Women’s Chorus, Holland Chorale, and the Battle Creek Girls Chorus. Under her leadership, these ensembles achieved significant milestones, including professional recordings, new music commissions and premieres, conference performances, and a medal at the World Choir Games. She was named a finalist for the American Prize in Conducting for her DMA recital 2014.

Bowen holds a B.S. in Music Education from West Chester University and an M.M. and D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University.
 

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