Tod Bowermaster

Tod Bowermaster, a native of Ottawa, Illinois, is Third Horn of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 1995. He served as Acting Assistant Principal in the 2008-09 season and Acting Principal for the 2002-2003 season. Bowermaster has appeared as a soloist with the orchestra on numerous occasions. He has also performed as a soloist with the Honolulu Symphony and the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, among others. Before his appointment to the SLSO, he was a member of the Honolulu Symphony and the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra. He has also performed with the orchestras of Chicago, Houston, and San Francisco. In October of 2012, he was honored to be a member of the World Orchestra for Peace, performing at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Chicago’s Symphony Center under the direction of Maestro Valery Gergiev. Winner of the 1999 American Horn Competition and the 1982 Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition, he continues to enjoy performing in both solo and chamber music settings.

Bowermaster has been a regular participant in numerous chamber music festivals nationwide, including the Kapalua Music Festival on Maui; the Bay Chamber Concerts in Rockport, Maine; Summerfest in Kansas City; the Innsbruck Festival outside of St. Louis; Strings in the Mountains in Steamboat Springs, Colorado; and the Landmarks Society Chamber Concerts on the island of St. Croix.

Bowermaster is in great demand as a teacher, having been invited to give recitals and master classes at Rice University, Illinois State University, Northern Illinois University, the Manhattan School of Music, and the University of Missouri. Recent teaching engagements have included being a guest professor with the horn class at Northwestern University and with the horn students at the Indiana University Summer Music Festival. Additionally he serves as lecturer of horn at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. When not playing the horn, he enjoys playing tennis, singing, and, most of all, family time. He resides in Kirkwood, Missouri, with his children, Kathryn and Ryan.