Prof. Gerald Fowkes

Gerald Fowkes, cellist and conductor, is a graduate of Louisiana State University where he graduated summa cum laude in Cello Performance. His former teachers and mentors include Dennis Parker, Loran Stephenson, Wesley Baldwin and Pamela Frame. He has participated in master classes with cellists Gary Hoffman, Aldo Parisot, Erling Blöndal Bengtsson, and Paul Katz, amongst others. In addition, he holds a Master of Music Education from Brigham Young University where he studied string pedagogy with Andrew Dabczynski and Samuel Tsugawa. A Northern Virginia native, Gerald is an alumnus of the American Youth Philharmonic and a past Virginia Emerson Scholar at the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan.

From 2014 to the present, Mr. Fowkes serves as Director of Orchestras at Fairfax High School. From 2003-2014 he taught in Prince William County Schools and was the recipient of the 2014 Dale City Civic Association High School Teacher of the Year. In addition to his duties at Fairfax, he is conductor of the Young Artist Orchestra of the DC Youth Orchestra Program, and on the artist faculty as the Orchestra Director of the Greater Washington Suzuki Institute. From 2017-2020, Fowkes was Music Director and Conductor of the McLean Youth Orchestra. Prior to that position, he was on the conducting staff of the Youth Orchestras of Prince William from 2004-2017. He has had the distinct honor of guest conducting numerous honor orchestras throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia and is a frequent guest conductor at the annual JMU Spring String Thing.

Mr. Fowkes is currently a member of the George Mason University faculty, teaching applied cello, as well as courses in cello pedagogy and class strings. He is a frequent chamber music collaborator and a past chamber music fellow at the Hot Springs Music Festival and the Park City International Music Festival. A former member of the Baton Rouge Symphony, he performs frequently as a freelance cellist throughout the Baltimore/Washington metro area having performed with the Virginia, Fairfax, and McLean Orchestras amongst others. Mr. Fowkes maintains a private cello studio at his home where he resides with his wife and four children.

• MM Ed., String Pedagogy, Brigham Young University 
• BM, Cello Performance, Louisiana State University