BIOGRAPHY
Regarded for her beautiful tone and elegant playing, guitarist Candice Mowbray shares the expressive and communicative qualities of her playing through programs of modern and classic works: from the playful acrobatics in Danse rythmique by French guitar virtuoso, Ida Presti, to the solemnity of Fernando Sor's Fantaisie élégiaque, listeners enjoy her artful programming and thoughtful interpretations. Her delightful playing once elicited from a celebrated ballerina, “It makes me want to dance!” and guitar virtuoso John Feeley described her as "a beautiful player, so expressive and musical."
​
​
Appearing as a soloist, ensemble musician and guest lecturer, Mowbray has been a featured artist at many festivals and concert series including the Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society Series, Toronto Guitar Weekend, International Guitar Festival "Ida Presti," Knoxville Guitar Series, Bethlehem Guitar Festival, Austin Peay GuitarFest, Charlottesville Guitar Festival, Lonestar Guitar Festival, Ibero-American Guitar Festival at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian and Guitar Foundation of America Convention in Los Angeles. She has performed with Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center, Maryland Symphony Orchestra, Wolftrap Opera, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Greater Washington and National String Symphonia.
Mowbray has been an active chamber musician performing with numerous esteemed artists in the greater Washington D.C. and Philadelphia area, and can be heard playing classical, electric and steel-string acoustic guitar with orchestras and in music theater and interdisciplinary arts productions.
Mowbray's CD, Reverie, has been featured on radio shows such as InTune (BBC Radio 3), The Intimate Guitar (Dayton, OH), G-Strings with Tom Cole (Washington D.C.) and Musica Mundi (Boulder, CO). Blair Jackson of Classical Guitar Magazine called the album, "a revelation!" and one of the Top 10 CD picks of the year. The album is comprised of twentieth-century and contemporary French compositions intertwined by homage and includes solo works by the great guitar duo, Ida Presti and Alexandre Lagoya.
​
Dr. Mowbray has taught courses in guitar, music history, theory, and appreciation of the broader humanities at Shenandoah Conservatory, Hagerstown Community College, Frederick Community College, and most recently served as director of guitar studies at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. She has worked with students of all ages as a guest clinician and adjudicator, and greatly enjoys researching, writing and speaking about music.
An experienced lecturer, Mowbray's musical talks have been described as "enthusiastic" and "insightful" in Classical Guitar Magazine and The Morning Call. Although Mowbray lectures on a variety of topics, she has been an advocate for increasing awareness about the contributions of women in the history of guitar. Since 2006, Mowbray has given numerous talks about women in guitar history for schools, libraries, concert series and guitar festivals, each being met with positive feedback and interest. Her doctoral thesis, "Ida Presti as a Solo Performer and Composer of Works for Solo Guitar" is published by ProQuest and related publications include “Recordings to Revisit: Ida Presti’s Solo Recordings” in Soundboard and “Introducing Ida Presti” in Prodigies.
​
Mowbray earned the Doctorate of Musical Arts in Classical Guitar Performance at Shenandoah Conservatory where she studied with Dr. Glenn Caluda. Also influential were private lessons and masterclasses with many internationally renowned artists including Berta Rojas, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Sharon Isbin, Roland Dyens, Julian Gray, Serap Bastepe-Gray, Ron Pearl, Gerry Kunkel, Angel Romero, Ricardo Cobo, Eduardo Isaac, Maximo Diego Pujol and Victor Villadangos.
​
​