Gwen McDowell

Gwendolyn McDowell affectionately known as "Gwen" was born & raised in Washington, D.C. Her foster parents noticed she was gifted as a singer when she was a child. At the early age of nine, she joined the children's choir at her church, played small roles in school plays, & sung in school talent shows. When Gwen turned 14, she auditioned & was accepted at the "Duke Ellington School of the Performing Arts" in Washington, D.C.; majoring in "Vocal Music". During her junior & senior year, "Acting & Movement" classes were added. The late Co-Founder of Duke Ellington Mike Malone took Gwen under his wing, & continued to work with her-mentoring her. After graduating from Duke Ellington in 1984, she began traveling with Mike Malone all across the United States landing principal roles in stage productions at Howard University's "Crampton Auditorium" in Washington, DC; "The Lincoln Center" in New York; "The Kennedy Center" in Washington, DC & the "Children's Theatre" in St. Paul, MN, to name a few. In addition to training with the late Mike Malone (Co-founder of Duke Ellington, Choreographer of the television series "Fame", Arts Dean at Duke Ellington, Professor of Musical Theatre at Howard University), she also worked with Lavern Reed (Founder/Artistic Director, Writer, Choreographer of the "Lavern Reed Dance Theatre School"); Eddie Jackson (Voice Teacher at Duke Ellington, the late Tony Booker (Vocal & Musicianship Coach at Duke Ellington); the late Matthew Dickens (Acting & Movement at Duke Ellington) to name a few. From 1982, 1985-1987 & intermittently in between, Gwen served as an ambassador of peace for the United States through the Peace Child Foundation based in the UK. She traveled to various countries such as Jamaica, England, Canada & Russia spreading the message of love & peace with 11 Americans to do an entire musical with a Russian cast in the Russian language. She along with the 11 Amerians then returned to the U.S. touring with the Russian cast performing the entire musical in English. Their last performance was once again at the Kennedy Center. Gwen had the incredible opportunity to record the duet "I Have a Vision" (a song about Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr.) with the famous Russian Rock Band "Stas Namin"; an original song written by London Composer David Gordon. She sang this song once again with her oldest daughter for the UK United Nations 2020 virtual performance in. Shortly after, Gwen was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame in October 2021 for the work she's done throughout the years with Peace Child. The early to late 90's, Gwen landed principal roles in musicals with gospel artists such as the "Richard Smallwood Singers" in "Mahalia Song", "Lynette Hawkins" in "Lord I'm Coming Home", & "Lacresia Campbell" in "Celebrate the Season". Gwen is the author of the book, "God Speaks". Throughout her career in the entertainment industry, God breathed the words in her book to encourage & sustain her. Gwen's book was published in 2012. From 2016 - 2018, Gwen taught Vocal Music & Drama to over 300 students ranging from Preschool thru 8th Grade which included writing & preparing original skits; directing, producing, auditioning & running rehearsals prior to stage productions! July 2018, Gwen became the founder & CEO of "Blossom Artists" where she continues to teach, direct, perform, & create new life for the "Arts" & "Artists"! In January 2021, Gwen became a Film Maker in which she produced, wrote & directed her first movie, "Stained Glass" which sold out twice in the Regal Theater.