Career Highlights
Joseph Bowman is a globally recognized arts administrator, educator, and performer who serves as the Vice Dean for Global Partnerships and Career Development and Professor of Trumpet at the College of Music, Mahidol University. Over a two-decade career in Thailand, Dr. Bowman has been instrumental in shaping the landscape of professional creative arts and music training across Southeast Asia.
As Vice Dean, Dr. Bowman serves on the executive leadership team responsible for comprehensive college-wide budget supervision and oversees a global network of 80 institutional partners. His leadership in strategic reputation management played a key role in elevating the College of Music to #28 globally in the 2025 QS World University Rankings by Subject. A rigorous advocate for institutional excellence, he has chaired five European MUSIQUE accreditation reviews, resulting in the College being cited as “a truly exceptional institution”.
Beyond Mahidol University, Dr. Bowman served as the Executive Director of the Southeast Asia Directors of Music Association (SEADOM) from 2008 to 2025. Under his direction, SEADOM grew to include 90 active institutions and became the first higher education music association in the region to achieve ASEAN Civil Society Association Recognition. To bridge the gap between performance and entrepreneurship, he founded and curated the Southeast Asia Music Leadership Initiative (SEAMLI), an immersive experiential curriculum designed to equip emerging collegiate musicians with modern creative arts leadership skills.
As a pedagogue, Dr. Bowman has built one of the most successful trumpet studios in Asia. His graduates achieve a 100% job placement rate in playing and teaching positions throughout the region, and currently comprise the entire trumpet section of the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra. A pioneer in advanced music education, he previously chaired the curriculum committee that established Asia’s first professional Doctor of Music (DM) program and advised the first DM students in trumpet in Southeast Asia.
An active performer and scholar, Dr. Bowman has served as the Associate Principal Trumpet of the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra since 2008, performing over 50 concerts a season, and is the Principal Trumpet of BrassArts Bangkok. He is a highly sought-after clinician, delivering performances and masterclasses globally, including engagements across China, Japan, Malaysia, and the United States. His extensive scholarly output includes the textbook Trumpet Pedagogy, decades of published research in peer-reviewed journals, and three consecutive terms serving on the Board of Directors for the International Trumpet Guild.
A native of Akron, Ohio, USA, Dr. Bowman holds a Doctor of Musical Arts and a Master of Music from Arizona State University, where he studied with David R. Hickman and Samuel Pilafian. He earned his Bachelor of Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).
Education
2001 – Arizona State University (USA) – Doctor of Musical Arts
1999 – Arizona State University (USA) – Master of Music
1997 – University of Cincinnati (USA) – Bachelor of Music
