Label owner, RIP

News has been shared of the death of David Bowerman, founder of Champs Hill Records and the fabulous Music Room at Champs Hill. David was 84. Many young artists benefitted from his generosity.

David Bowerman was born in 1936 and took a BSc degree before a long career in farming. Family duties did not allow any form of musical training and his knowledge of musical matters is largely self-taught. It was only after retirement that he and his wife built “The Music Room” at their home, Champs Hill, and musical interest was re-kindled. This has opened vast opportunities to present classical music to the people of Sussex, to give young artists the chance to play in public and to make recordings.

Ittai Shapira writes: RIP David Bowerman; Thank You for taking a chance on me as a recent Juilliard Graduate in my early 20’s, supporting and guiding me through my first solo recording with orchestra, European tours and special projects coming to fruition internationally. Your invaluable guidance made the difference between a flash in the pan debut to building relationships with musicians for over two decades. Your wisdom and curiosity always lead to a generous and concrete act of kindenss for others- from green energy to creative solutions and support for the societal challenges we face today. You asked me not to thank you, but to always strive for more instead. Well, I will never stop thanking you..🙂 and together with the hundreds of musicians and thousands of young people you have impacted, we will continue to honor your mission of bringing people together through the Arts, striving to do our best for the world around us. Thank You for introducing me to the rich, warm sound of romantic and contemporary British composers, and for writing a piece for me, which I had the pleasure of recording in 2004 with Julian Milford and Alexander Van Ingen for Champs Hill Records, thus encouraging a circle of young artists. My sincere condolences to his devoted and incredible family. He was like a father to us all.