Musicians - Sean Bradley

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	Musicians - Sean Bradley

Sean Bradley (birthday unknown) is an American conductor, composer, violinist, music theorist, educator, and impresario/producer of large scale symphonic and operatic events. Bradley first gained a reputation as a conductor and active proponent of new music while serving as the artistic director of Opera Nova Santa Monica. His tenure at Opera Nova was closely associated with a group of five Spanish-speaking composers living and working in Los Angeles known as Los Cinco. Bradley helped to establish this collective as a significant geographic and aesthetic school of contemporary composition. Building on the success of his work at Opera Nova, Bradley formed his own production company, City Opera, in 2004. Under Bradley's direction, City Opera won a contract authorizing the company to deliver music education services to nearly 1000 schools throughout the entire Los Angeles Unified School District. Bradley's unique vision for City Opera as new business model for governance and profitability in a performing arts organization has enabled the company to earn unrestricted revenue and grow without philanthropy. His present endeavors include tackling problems related to the use of technology to increase classical music's accessibility, distribution, as well as convenience and social relevancy in participating communities, while simultaneously increasing creative potency and compensation for all company stakeholders.

Early Life, Musical Training, and Travel

Bradley was born at the University of California Los Angeles medical center. His father was a technical illustrator for Lockheed, later a V.P. of marketing for various dot com start-ups, and is now a substance abuse counselor. His mother was a certified financial planner, and is now a nationally-certificated art teacher. Bradley attended public school throughout Los Angeles, and went to John H. Francis Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley, California.

As a young boy, Bradley studied violin with Katherine Korngold, granddaughter of Erich Korngold, the reknowned film composer. This relationship brought him into direct contact with the great composer's manuscripts and intilled in him an early love of music for film and the stage.

Subsequent studies brought him to the studio of Harold Ayres, former concertmaster of the Minneapolis Symphony under Eugene Ormandy, and a pupil of famous violin teacher Leopold Auer. Ayres, having studied himself alongside Jascha Heifetz and Mischa Elman, declared Bradley "a natural" and provided the young violinist technical training that could be linked directly to the master pedagogy of Auer.

During the divorce of his parents, Bradley, having already passed the California High Schoool Proficiency Exam, left high school early to travel across the U.S., from Los Angeles to Toronto, Canada with his uncle. It was during these travels that he developed an interest in meditation and Zen Buddhism, and an increased interest in Christian apologetics, as exemplified by writers such as C.S. Lewis.

Early College and Military Experience

He returned from his travels and entered into college, studying harmony, counterpoint, piano, and composition, debuting his first 12-tone serial piece for chamber ensemble at Los Angeles Valley College when he was still only 16 years old.

An unstable family life resulted in living independently from his parents while still a teen. He moved frequently, attended school part-time, and worked as a technical writer for one of the nation's largest marketing companies, where he wrote a manual on service quality control for direct marketing organizations. He continued to study violin and composition, often paying for his own lessons. For a short while, he lived with his violin teacher, Brian Leonard, a respected Los Angeles studio musician. By 18, he was appointed concertmaster of the California State University at Northridge Symphony. At C.S.U.N., Bradley studied with Joseph Genualdi, now director of the Chicago Chamber Players, and with Franklin D'Antonio, a pupil of Heifetz and noted studio musician.

Worries about money compelled Bradley to leave the university while in his senior year. He worked for two years, primarily in marketing and later as an American Council on Exercise Certified Personal Trainer. Seeking to stabilize his finances, he attempted to join the Los Angeles Police Department, obtaining a perfect score in the final interview. Possibly in anticipation of departmental demographics precipitating the Los Angeles riots of 1992, the L.A.P.D. instituted hiring practices favoring women and minorities, compelling Bradley to apply for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. Family history and personal debt delayed his acceptance.

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