Gwendolyn Bradley

Gwendolyn Bradley (Gwendolyn Bradley-Willemann) is an American soprano who performed on many opera and concert stages worldwide.

Bradley grew up in Bishopville, South Carolina as daughter of public school educators which were involved in the civil rights movement. After her high school music teacher recognized her talent, she received voice lessons at Coker College in Hartsville. Bradley was further trained at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, the Curtis Institute of Music and the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.

Gwendolyn Bradley's debut was as Nannetta in Verdis's opera Falstaff at the Lake George Opera in 1976. After a very successful concert in New York in 1979 she established herself at the Metropolitan Opera, starting in 1981 as Nightingale in L'Enfant et les sortilèges (Ravel) and continuing for the next nine seasons singing such roles as Fiakermilli in Arabella, Blondchen in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Olympia in Les contes d'Hoffmann, the title role of Stravinsky's Le Rossignol, Clara in Porgy and Bess and especially as Gilda in Rigoletto. From her first appearance on March 20, 1977, to her last on January 27, 1990, Bradley sang in 108 performances at the Metropolitan Opera. She performed also in other American opera houses like the Memphis Opera, the Michigan Opera Theatre or the Central City Opera. Bradley was a frequent guest on the stage of the Los Angeles Opera as Oscar, Blondchen, Zerbinetta, Romilda, Zerlina, and in the 1997-98 season as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte.