Dr. Anna Bradford is a freelance oboist and music educator in the Chicago area, after relocating from Boston, Massachusetts in 2023. Hailed for her “confident and sensitive playing" (the Boston Musical Intelligencer), Dr. Bradford is equally at home performing as an orchestral musician, a chamber musician, and as a recitalist. Dr. Bradford is also a deeply passionate music educator and has a holistic approach to oboe study, a pedogogical style she refers to as "Teaching the Functional Musician."
PERFORMER BIO:
As an orchestral musician, Dr. Bradford holds the 3rd oboe/English horn position with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra and the 2nd oboe/English horn position with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. She also currently performs with Camerata Chicago, the Milwaukee Ballet, the Danville Symphony Orchestra, the Whiting Park Festival Orchestra, and the Concert Opera of Greater Chicago.
She previously held positions with the Cape Ann Symphony, Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova, and the Boston Civic Symphony in Massachusetts.
As a chamber musician, Dr. Bradford is a founding member of the Kalliope Reed Quintet, the premiere reed quintet in New England and one of the first 50 professional reed quintets worldwide. The Kalliope Reed Quintet is a contemporary ensemble dedicated to expanding and diversifying the reed quintet repertoire through comissioning projects and performances on local, national and international stages (learn more at www.kalliopereedquintet.com).
As a soloist, Dr. Bradford was named the winner of the Boston Woodwind Society Ralph Gomberg Oboe Competition in 2014 with a performance of the Telemann Sonata in E minor TWV 41:e6. She was also featured as the oboe soloist in the Mozart Oboe Quartet with Boston's Symphony Nova in 2018. Most recently, Dr. Bradford performed a faculty lecture recital entitled "Women Compose Music, Too" at South Suburban College in 2024, featuring works across the musical eras by women composers.
TEACHING BIO
Dr. Bradford is also a passionate music educator, teaching oboists and chamber music to students of all ages and levels. She is currently the oboe instructor at the VanderCook College of Music, where she teaches applied oboe, chamber music, and oboe methods, and is also on faculty at South Suburban College, teaching oboe, music history, and music appreciation. Dr. Bradford previously held teaching positions while in Boston at the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, the All-Newton Music School, the Community Music Center of Boston, the Fenn School, and the Dana Hall School of Music.
Dr. Bradford teaches private oboe lessons through her home studio in Chicago both in person and on Zoom, and is currently accepting new students. She also teaches in IL District 228 high schools and at Niles West High School. Dr. Bradford believes that high-level music education should be available to all students, and runs a TikTok/Instagram account as @theoboedoctor where she shares her teaching and answers oboe questions for students all over the world. Please visit the "Teaching Philosophy" tab to learn more about Dr. Bradford's "Teaching the Functional Musician" pedagogy.
RECORDINGS
Kalliope Reed Quintet YouTube page
DISCOGRAPHY
Kalliope Reed Quintet, "Cañas sin Fronteras"
