Chris' CV

Chris Bradley has been with Opera North since 1979 and is now the principal percussionist..

Having studied percussion at both Huddersfield Technical College and Huddersfield University (formerly Polytechnic) under Eric Woolliscroft and later with Gilbert Webster at the Royal Northern College of Music, Chris made his Wigmore Hall debut (Stedman Doubles/Maxwell Davies) in 1979, and played with the Halle Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the BBC Northern before joining Opera North.

In his spare time he plays the cimbalom and has performed with the leading orchestra's of Great Britain, most notably the BBC Symphony, Philharmonia, CBSO, London Philharmonic, London Symphony, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and took part in the world premieres of Sir Harrison Birtwistle's operas Gawain at the Royal Opera House and The Second Mrs Kong at Glyndebourne.

Chris also teaches percussion mainly at Huddersfield University and the University of Leeds, as well as privately at his Sowerby Bridge studio. He helped co-ordinate the setting up of percussion tution for the East Riding of Yorkshire (ProJect Percussion).

In 1988 he formed his own percussion ensemble "Bradley's Hitmen" who have performed all over Yorkshire, Humberside as well as Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, the Lake District and for Leeds Leisure Services.

For the 1995 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Chris launched "Bradley's All Stars" to perform Antheil's Ballet Mecanique with Piano Circus conducted by Anders Lougin (Kroumata).

He premiered Philip Wilby's Percussion Concerto written for Chris and the ENP at performances in Leeds (Leeds Centenary Festival), Bradford and Hull. In Spring 1997 Chris performed this concerto four more times, in an arrangement for brass band, as part of the "Percussion Power" project devised and led by Chris, organised by Yorkshire Youth & Music and sponsored by Yorkshire Electricity. Other major educational projects have included "Powerplus Project" for Sheffield Schools; "Railway Rhythms" at the National Railway Museum, York; "Altogether Music" for NOEL in the Calderdale, Bradford, Wakefield and Grimsby regions and "ZAP2K" for the Halifax Learning Zone.

Highlights include performances of the Carl Vine Percussion Symphony; concerts with the London Sinfonietta & Steve Reich (Music for 18 Musicians); performances with the BBC Symphony Orchestra; percussion tutor for the Yorkshire Youth Orchestra and the National Childrens Orchestra and a tour of Rome with the East Riding Youth Orchestra.

Since 1999, Chris has premiered several of his new orchestral shows. It started in April with the Sinfonia of Leeds and a presentation of Rhythms My Mother Taught Me. This was so successful that Leeds Leisure Services asked him to repeat this show as part of their 2000 Orchestral Adventures series. This resulted in Chris being asked to devise and present the 2001 series and 3 new shows evolved: Heroes R Here; Roll Up, Roll Up, Bop at the Big Top; Cold Jelly and Custard. These shows were premiered in Spring 2001 at Leeds Town Hall.

In August / September 1999 Chris achieved a lifetime's ambition and performed with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra on a European tour, performing at the Salzburg, Edinburgh & Lucerne Festivals as well as the Proms.

Highlights during the 2000/2001 season include the World Orchestra for Peace conducted by Valery Gergev, a live TV transmission from the Proms relay; Les Noces at Leuven, Belgium as part of the Flanders Festival; "Percussion Discussion" a teachers workshop for Key Stages 1 & 2 in Grimsby; "Altogether Music" projects in Calderdale, Leeds and Harrogate; Bradley's Hitmen Lollipop Concert at the Civic Theatre, Leeds; percussion adjudicator for the Harrogate Festival of Music; Hary Janos with the Henley Symphony Orchestra and percussion tutor for the National Childrens Orchestra.

Highlights from 2002 include a tour of Hungary with the East Riding Youth Orchestra playing cimbalom in Hary Janos; more Orchestral Adventures for Leeds Leisure Services in 2002 & 2003; narrating Peter & the Wolf with the Opera North Orchestra conducted by Carl Davis; presenting Bare Necessities for the National Trust; performing at the Aldeburgh Festival for the first time with the BCMG under Sakari Oramo as well as concerts with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (Germany & UK) and the Finnish Chamber Orchestra (Helsinki).