Nestled in the heart of the music building, surrounded by students hard at work playing beautiful music, Nathan Bowen hurries into his office after just teaching back-to-back classes.

Nathan Bowen is known to his students as a passionate teacher and unofficially as the director of music technology and theory programs, according to Bowen.

Dominique Aguliera, 20-year-old business major, said that Bowen is one of the more enthusiastic teachers and someone who enjoys what they do and teach.

“Right off the bat you can tell he loves what he does and wants to help share that with his students,” said Aguliera. “He is always willing to help, regardless of his busy schedule.”

Bowen first discovered his love for the all things music while taking some classes as an undergraduate. Bowen said he had originally intended to be either an engineer or follow in his father’s footsteps and become a doctor.

“As I took some music classes and became more and more interested in them, I thought, ‘I think I want to do this,'” said Bowen.

Although engineering and music seem like two completely separate career paths, Bowen explained how they are both two creative outlets where you get to build things from the ground up.

“For me as a musician, my interests were in composition which is basically creating pieces of music,” said Bowen. “In my mind that isn’t all that different from creating a bridge.”

Once he was certain of a musical career path, Bowen intended to pursue film scoring.

“I wanted to be the person who helped create music for movies,” said Bowen. “I wanted to be the person who helped build the thrill and rush that people can get through the music.”

As time went on, different opportunities presented themselves and Bowen got chances to write music for friends involved in the commercial industry, theater and dance. Although he did stray away from what was the core career path that is film scoring, there were various parts about the industry that interested him.

“It definitely catered to my skill set,” said Bowen. “I was able to do those things successfully, but the more you do projects like that, the less you are doing for film scoring, so I just kept going with that.”

While an undergraduate, after observing his music professors’ lifestyle, he had the idea of becoming a teacher.

“It seemed like something I would maybe want to pursue one day,” said Bowen. “When I finished my master’s degree, I knew I wanted to commit to teaching.”

Alyssa Holmes, 21-year-old child development major, took a class with Bowen her first semester at Moorpark College and enjoyed it thoroughly.

“He was always very eager and passionate when he taught,” said Holmes. “It was refreshing.”

Bowen seems to appreciate his students just as much as they appreciate him. According to Bowen, his favorite part about teaching is being able to help students recognize their own potential and acquire the skills that the students want to have.

“I had a professor who told me that taking a class anywhere really is a declaration of ignorance,” said Bowen. “You’re basically saying I don’t know how to do this thing that is why I am here. Everybody that is there is wanting to get some sort of skill that is illusive to them. They don’t quite know what exactly it is and I like to help people create a set of skills and have some some knowledge that they didn’t have before.”

On campus Bowen has also played a big part in putting together and organizing the proposal to have a music technology certificate.

“I’m really excited that we will be able to offer students this certificate,” said Bowen. “It has been a long process, but it will definitely be worth it.”

Off campus Bowen has been working hard on perfecting his upcoming performance using a mobile phone to make music at the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival and Conference in New York City in June.

“Depending on how I move the phone, it will allow me to modify the sound and if I push certain buttons, it will change the sound,” said Bowen. “I’m trying to create a way for the mobile phone to be a performance device. I personally feel that the mobile phone is used for so many things, why not use it for music?”

Bowen is excited to share all he has learned and will continue to teach things students are excited to learn about and able to apply to real life.