Dr. Anna Bradford is a freelance oboist and music educator in the Chicago area, having recently relocated from Boston, Massachusetts in
2023. Throughout greater Boston and New England, Dr. Bradford frequently performed as a soloist, a chamber musician, and an orchestral musician. As an educator, she taught approximately 30 private students per week in addition to coaching chamber music, giving oboe sectionals, and running several music departments.
As a soloist, Dr. Bradford was named the 2014 winner of the Boston Woodwind Society's Ralph Gomberg Oboe Competition, and in 2017 was hailed by the Boston Musical Intelligencer as a "confident and sensitive player" for a performance of the Mozart Oboe Quartet with Symphony Nova. As a chamber musician, Dr. Bradford is a member of the Kalliope Reed Quintet, the first professional reed quintet in New England and one of the first 50 reed quintets worldwide. Kalliope is a leading commissioner of underrepresented composers from across the Americas, and performs both commissioned and arranged works in local concerts, nationwide residencies, and in an international tour to Mazatlán, Mexico, sponsored by U.S. Artists International.
As an orchestral musician, Dr. Bradford is the English Horn player of the Peoria Symphony Orchestra in Illinois and the 2nd oboe/English horn of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra in Maine. Dr. Bradford both freelances throughout Illinois and frequently travels back to New England to perform, appearing with Symphony New Hampshire, the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, Vista Philharmonic, and the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. She had previously held positions with the Cape Ann Symphony Orchestra, the Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova, and the Boston Civic Symphony.
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Dr. Bradford is equally passionate as a performer and an educator. While in Boston, she worked extensively with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras as an oboe coach, a chamber music coach, and the oboe instructor for the Intensive Community Program. She also taught weekly oboe lessons at the All-Newton Music School, the Fenn School, and the Community Music Center of Boston. While at CMCB, Dr. Bradford also operated as the head of the Winds Department and ran CMCB's Boston Latin School Satellite Program, organizing recruitment efforts and master classes.
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Dr. Bradford teaches oboe students and chamber music to students of all ages and levels, including adult students, and believes in a student-centered approach to learning, where students' goals and strengths guide curriculum and lesson structure. In Illinois, she is currently an Adjunct Instructor of Oboe at South Suburban College, and teaches oboe at Niles West High School, Oak Forest High School, and Tinley Park High School. She also operates a private oboe studio in-person and virtually.