Jazz Singer Carmen Bradford Joins Faculty of San Francisco Conservatory of Music

The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) today announces the appointment of vocalist Carmen Bradford to its Roots, Jazz, and American Music (RJAM) faculty.

Bradford, who will begin teaching in Fall 2018, will be the first vocalist to join the RJAM faculty since the program launched in Fall 2017. Currently comprised of students studying bass, drums, piano, saxophone, trombone, trumpet, vibraphone, and composition, RJAM will add voice to its list of disciplines next year as Bradford will be the program's first faculty member specializing in jazz vocals.

"We are thrilled to welcome Carmen Bradford to the SFCM fold," says RJAM Executive Director Simon Rowe. "Carmen, having had long associations with icons such as Count Basie and Nancy Wilson, is the rare example of a jazz artist at the top of her field who, in turn, is choosing to mentor the students following in her footsteps. Her joy, artistry, and passion will inspire us all-faculty and students alike!"

"I am deeply honored and excited to be a part of the RJAM/SFCM family," says Carmen Bradford. "Time to sing . . . time to swing!"

Discovered early on by William "Count" Basie, Bradford has performed and/or recorded with a host of eminent artists and ensembles including Wynton Marsalis, John Clayton and the Clayton Hamilton Orchestra, Nancy Wilson, Doc Severinsen, Tony Bennett, James Brown, Patti Austin, Byron Stripling, Dori Caymmi, George Benson, Lena Horne, Frank Sinatra, Joe Williams, The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, National Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Dani Felber Big Band, Dallas Symphony, Oklahoma Symphony, Vancouver Philharmonic, and countless others around the world. Bradford performed on two Grammy Award-winning albums with the Count Basie Orchestra in the 1980s and later collaborated on a third Grammy Award-winning album, "Big Boss Band," with guitarist George Benson in 1991. She has also performed on the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Bradford has also performed in stage productions and her voice has been featured in the music of Hollywood films. She sang on the soundtrack for Oprah Winfrey's Beloved, and recently starred in the title role of Duke Ellington's folk opera, Queenie Pie, at the University of Texas' Butler School of Music.

Bradford can most recently be heard on Darren English's new critically acclaimed album Imagination Nation on Hot Shoe Records. The 2015 release John Mills - Invisible Design also features Bradford in multiple forms of jazz including fusion, blues, and straight ahead jazz.

Founded in 1917, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music is the oldest conservatory in the American West and has earned an international reputation for producing musicians of the highest caliber. Its faculty includes nearly 30 members of the San Francisco Symphony as well as Grammy and Latin Grammy Award-winning artists in the fields of orchestral and chamber performance and classical guitar. The Conservatory offers its 400-plus collegiate students fully accredited bachelor's and master's degree programs in composition and instrumental and vocal performance. SFCM was the first institution of its kind to offer world-class graduate degree programs in chamber music and classical guitar. Its Pre-College Division provides exceptionally high standards of musical excellence and personal attention to more than 200 younger students. SFCM faculty and students give nearly 500 public performances each year, most of which are offered to the public at no charge. Its community outreach programs serve over 1,600 school children and over 6,000 members of the wider community. Notable alumni include violinists Yehudi Menuhin and Isaac Stern, conductor and pianist Jeffrey Kahane, soprano Elza van den Heever, Blue Bottle Coffee founder James Freeman and Ronald Losby, President, Steinway & Sons - Americas, among others. The Conservatory's Civic Center facility is an architectural and acoustical masterwork, and the Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall was lauded by The New York Times as the "most enticing classical-music setting" in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, visit www.sfcm.edu.

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