African American Musical Heritage

Lenard C. Bowie, DMA

Associate Professor of Music, Retired

The University of North Florida

Jacksonville, Florida

Dr. Lenard C. Bowie has developed an enviable reputation as a consummate musician. He is a classical trumpet artist, accomplished band director, effective music administrator, skilled lecturer, and published author. As an author, Bowie’s expertise in several fields of endeavor has been documented through the following subjects, as published in the professional music journals indicated: "Solving Problems of Young Trumpet Players," published in the Music Educators National Journal (December, 1979), a critical review of "Black University Marching Bands in the 80's." published by The Marching Band (January, 1981), and the Proceedings of an Informal Research Conference whose mission was to document the extent to which African American music courses were offered in Florida's Public Schools was published by the Florida Music Educator (June, 2002).

As an undergraduate, Bowie was plagued by many questions concerning the absence of formal instruction in the music of his people, especially when considering the fact that there were only two authentic types of American music -- that of the American Indians and that of African Americans, with African American Music being the most important of the two. Bowie’s search for answers to his probing questions began when he enrolled in Professor Willie Ruffs course in Black Music as a graduate student at Yale University in 1974. This course opened Bowie’s eyes, ears, and mind to many of his here-to-fore unanswered questions; including the extent to which African music traditions are practiced in African American Music today, and the impact that African American Music has made on the social, political, economic, and religious climates of modern American Society.

After graduating from Yale with a Master of Musical Arts Degree in 1976, Bowie struck out on a mission to enlarge on what he had learned about African American Music. This mission brought him in contact with a wealth of information through independent study of numerous publications and documentaries; lectures, festivals, concerts; and personal contacts with scholars who were, or have become, major players in the research, dissemination, performance, and composition of African American Music. Some of these scholars include former colleagues Dr. Oily W. Wilson, composer and Chair of Composition at UCLA, Berkeley; Samuel Floyd, Founder and Director of the Center for Black Music Research, found at Fisk University, now housed at Columbia College, Chicago; Dr. Aaron Horne, African American Music Biographer and Dean of Fine Arts, Winston Salem University, North Carolina; Aramentha Adams-Hummings, Founder and Director of the Gateways Music Festival, initiated at the North Carolina School of the Arts, now housed at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York; operatic tenor and music educator, the late Dr. William A. Brown. Others include Dr. Portia Maultsby, Professor of Music at Indiana University; Dr. Dena Epstein, Retired Music Librarian, Archival Researcher, and Author, Chicago; Dr. Rene Boyer-White, Professor of Music Education, College-Conservatory of Music, The University of Cincinnati; and Dr. John Smith, Dean of Fine Arts, The University of South Florida at Tampa.

During the first of Dr. Bowie’s two terms as Music Department Chair at The University of North Florida, he was afforded an opportunity to apply and distribute his long sought knowledge. The opportunity came in the form of a Million Dollar Endowment from the Koger Company to develop programs of study in American Music. The response of the faculty to the endowment was to institute two programs: a Jazz Studies Program and a program in African American Music. The Jazz Studies Program has become nationally recognized for outstanding achievements in jazz theory, history, and performance. The latter program, designed and developed by Bowie, was challenged.