Helen Bowater is a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 composer. She was born in Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

 into a musical family, and studied piano and violin with Gwyneth Brown. In 1982 she graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in music history and ethnomusicology from Victoria University

Victoria University

Victoria University may refer to:* Victoria University, Australia, Melbourne, Australia* Victoria University of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh* University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada...

 of Wellington. She continued her studies in electroacoustic music with Ross Harris

Ross Harris

Richard R. Harris , better known by his nickname, Rossie Harris is an American actor, artist, and musician.-Acting career:...

 and in composition with Jack Body

Jack Body

Jack Body is a New Zealand composer, photographer, artist and ethnomusicologist.He studied at Auckland University from 1963–67. With a QEII Arts Council grant he attended the Ferien Kurse fur Neue Musik, Cologne and Institute of Sonology, Utrecht, Netherlands...

.

After completing her studies, Bowater worked as a singer, pianist and violinist with ensembles and choirs, and also worked in rock bands Extra Virgin Orchestra and pHonk and with the Victoria University Gamelan

Gamelan

A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....

 Padhang Moncar. She completed residencies at the Nelson School of Music and the Otago University in 1993, and was composer-in-residence with the Auckland Philharmonica

Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra

The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra was established in the early 1980s and has become one of New Zealand's major performing organisations. The instigation of its Composer-in-Residence programme in 1990 has made the orchestra an important force in the promotion of New Zealand composed...

in 1994, and at the New Zealand School of Music, Victoria University, in 2008-09.

Bowater has published professional articles in journals including Music in New Zealand. Her music has been performed internationally.

Honors and awards

• Auckland Philharmonia Graduate Composer Workshops 1992
• Mozart Fellowship at Otago University 1993
• Auckland Philharmonia Composer in Residence 1994
• CANZ Trust Fund Award 1997
• SOUNZ Contemporary Award 1999
• SOUNZ Community Commission 2001
• NZSO-SOUNZ Readings 2003
• NZSO-SOUNZ Readings 2006
• Creative New Zealand/Jack C Richards Composer Residency, New Zealand School of Music 2008

Works

Selected works include:

• Banshee for two violins, cello and piano
• He does not come, setting of 5 poems for soprano and ensemble
• Ixion's Wheel for B flat clarinet and piano
• Lautari for solo violin
• New Year Fanfare for orchestra
• River of Ocean for full orchestra
• Urwachst for orchestra
• Wire Dogs for solo piano
• Nekhbet for solo piano
• Monkey for Chinese sheng, Gamelan Padhang Moncar, singer, and string quartet