Harpur student spotlight: Jordan Bowman
Graduate student comes from Idaho to pursue opera performance
Jordan Bowman believes that opera is more than just mastering the high notes — it’s an art-form that requires all parts of the body besides just the vocal cords.
“Opera stands out because it’s so athletic,” Bowman said. “It requires the entire body, a very skilled musical ear and a lot of the time, because you have to collaborate with more than just yourself, it’s either a pianist, an orchestra and a conductor or a duet partner. To me, if you can sing opera, you can sing anything.”
Bowman, a native of Pocatello, Idaho, is a Binghamton University graduate student working toward her master’s degree in music in opera. Before coming to Harpur College, she finished her undergraduate degree at the College of Idaho, where she devoted most of her time to theater.
Even before Bowman could mutter her first words, an aptitude for musical talent was running through her veins.
“My dad is a pianist, my mom is a jazz singer and my grandfather is a choir conductor and singer himself,” Bowman said. “I can’t really name a family member who doesn’t have any musical talent on my mom or father’s side.”
According to Bowman, she first knew she wanted to pursue a professional career in music at the age of 3, when she sang “America the Beautiful” for the first time at the Melba Idaho State Fair with her father.
“I’ve basically known I’ve wanted to perform since I had a microphone in my hand,” Bowman said. “I’ve been supported by my family because they’ve all had careers in music, and they know how enriching music can be and wanted me to have that as well.”
Although Bowman is now focusing on a career in opera performance, she first had an interest in rock music due to her father’s love for the genre.
“I did go through my stint of wanting to become a rock star,” Bowman said. “I had a heavy metal band for a few years, but also competed in classical-music competitions. A few years later, I read an article saying that heavy metal and opera light up the same part of the brain.”
Since Bowman stepped foot on the Binghamton campus more than a year and a half ago, she has taken part in rigorous vocal and performance training for on- and off-campus opera productions.
“With the Music Department, we have the opportunity to work with four to five coaches, which is on top of your voice lesson load, and then you sing in three to four master classes a week,” Bowman said. “Master classes are these classes that focus on specific types of works, like Italian repertoire or German repertoire. It really opens your eyes to a lot of music you wouldn’t think you would get to know.”
Through these classes, Bowman has mastered the ability to sing in six different languages: English, Italian, German, French, Russian and Czech.
“There are operas in all these languages. In our classes, we go through diction courses, where you learn how to speak all these languages,” Bowman said. “When you look at the lyrics on the page, even if you’re not fluent in the language, you know how to speak it.”
Often performing in classical opera pieces, Bowman hopes to bring exposure to modern opera productions, or new operas.
“I think opera gets overlooked because we think of it as this high art. Opera follows a specific format, and it’s not so far off from a Disney movie or a fairy-tale,” Bowman said. “I will always honor and respect traditional opera, but I think we also need to turn the spotlight on what’s happening right now.”
Throughout her undergraduate and current graduate student years, Bowman has performed in multiple productions and has written her own operas for theater companies. At Binghamton University, she debuted in the opera, “Postcard to Morocco,” which she worked on with Associate Professor Mary Burgess.
“Working with the composers here has been fantastic,” Bowman said. “There’s a lot of great composers at Binghamton University and I get to sing a lot of new, contemporary music.”
Although Bowman plans to return to Idaho after graduation, she said she is grateful to have the opportunity to work with the Music Department’s faculty and staff.
“The staff is just killer. We share some coaches here with Juilliard,” Bowman said. “The Music Department is a tour de force of professors.”