Rowan Bauman Swain
Instrument: Viola
Biography:
Violist Rowan Bauman Swain hails from Charlotte, Vermont. At age 14, Rowan made her concerto debut with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra; of the performance, the Rutland Herald wrote, “Charlotte ninth-grader Rowan Bauman Swain proved stellar... Her performance was not only poised and articulate, it was expressive and beautiful.” In Rowan soloed with the Vermont Youth Orchestra in 2019, as the winner of their annual “Senior Solo” competition. She is also the recipient of the organization’s Weathers Scholarship, and of the Hermance Prize. Currently, Rowan studies on a full scholarship at Bard College Conservatory of Music with Melissa Reardon. From 2013-2020, she studied at the Juilliard School, Pre-College Division, where her primary teachers included Heidi Castleman, Hsin-Yun Huang, and Carol Rodland. As a member of the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra, Rowan had the opportunity to work with guest artists including Emanuel Ax, Robert Spano, Joyce Yang, and David Robertson. She also had the distinct honor of performing the quintet Famn d’Ayiti with Grammy-nominated composer Nathalie Joachim at Alice Tully Hall in New York City. Rowan spent four idyllic summers at the Perlman Music Program Summer Music School in Shelter Island, NY, and has also participated the program’s Residencies in Sarasota, Florida and Tel-Aviv, Israel. Additionally, she has attended the Meadowmount School of Music, Yellow Barn Young Artists Program, the Music@Menlo Young Performers Program, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, and Kinhaven Music School. Rowan was a member of the New York String Orchestra Seminar in 2021 and 2022, and performed twice at Carnegie Hall as a member of the ensemble. In addition to music, Rowan is an eager student of literature, history, and languages and is pursuing a major in Classical Studies alongside her Viola Performance degree at Bard. Rowan plays on a 1974 Carleen Hutchins viola generously on loan from the Virtu Foundation.
