A native of Surrey, Timothy Bowers joined the Croydon Youth Orchestra as a violinist and began composing at the age of eleven. He went on to study composition with Alan Bush at the Royal Academy of Music, where he was awarded the major composition prizes, three scholarships and a BMus, and privately with David Blake, supported by the Munster Trust. He joined the teaching staff of the RAM in 1979 and was awarded a DPhil by the University of York in 1988, going on to serve as Head of Undergraduate Programmes at the RAM and becoming a Fellow in 2010. He is currently Alan Bush Lecturer there, and his research focuses on twentieth century British music – he has been closely involved with the Malcolm Arnold Festival and his writings include a monograph and many articles on Arnold’s music.

Timothy is an experienced adjudicator and has examined for the ABRSM. His own compositions comprise orchestral, instrumental, vocal and choral works, including eleven song-cycles and an extensive catalogue of works for guitar, as well as music for documentary films. He has been a visiting composer at the Béla Bartók Music Institute of Miskolc, Hungary and an Associate Composer with the award-winning Finnish choir Campanella, and his works have been performed at major London venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall and South Bank Centre, and also the Maltings, Snape and the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. Works for young performers have included commissions from youth orchestras and a cycle of sonatas, commissioned by the RAM, for the five standard orchestral brass instruments. Publishers include OUP, Ricordi, Roberton and Queen’s Temple.