With his rich and versatile voice, and experience as an actor and performer, Lee David Bowen has brought a wide range of characters and musical styles to life. From portraying Captain James Nolan in John Adams’ Dr Atomic with the English National Opera to Ismaele in Nabucco.

Hailing from Swansea, South Wales, originally a successful chef, he entered the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama as a baritone. Whilst there he sang Papageno and Figaro under the baton of Anthony Negus. Whilst at RWCMD Lee’s teachers included two great tenors John Mitchinson and Dennis O’Neill CBE, who both felt Lee’s future lay as a tenor in the nineteenth-century German/Italian repertoire.

Lee now specialises in the Charakter/Spieltenor repertoire, especially Mime Das Rhinegold and Siegfried, Simpleton Boris Godunov and Aegisth Elektra.

More recently Lee was engaged to sing the Wagnerian roles where he understudied Mime and Froh in the Longborough Festival; he later performed the role of Graf Albert in Korngold's Die Tote Stadt in the same festival.

Lee has forged an illustrious career with companies such as English National Opera, Welsh National Opera and Longborough Festival Opera, captivating audiences with a diverse range of performances. The renowned coaches Michael Pollock and Jane Robinson (ENO), as well as eminent Australian tenor Anthony Roden have been an integral part of Lee's artistic development. He also gained valuable experience preparing the roles of Loge and Mime with the late tenor Graham Clark.

For English National Opera he sang Captain James Nolan in the British premiere of John Adams’ Doctor Atomic, and the White Minister in Ligeti's The Grand Macabre; for Welsh National Opera he created the role of Dolffin in Gwyneth Lewis and Julian Phillips’ opera for children Dolffin; for Opera North he has performed the First Armed Man/The Priest in the Magic Flute, Mozart; roles for English Touring Opera include Remendado Carmen (including performances in Lille, France), Dancairo Carmen, Guillot Manon and Sellem The Rake's Progress; Piangi Phantom of the Opera, Her Majesty's Theatre, London; for Opera Holland Park he has sung Malcolm Macbeth, L’Abate Andrea Chenier and Trin La Fanciulla del West; with Mid-Wales Opera he performed Remendado Carmen and Mr Upfold Albert Herring; for Iford Arts Dr Caius Falstaff.

Lee maintains a busy concert career with performances at leading venues including St Martins in the Field, London and St Davids Hall, Cardiff and regular recitals at Bristol Cathedral. Film soundtracks include Piangi, The Phantom of the Opera (2004) and The Canaries (2017).