Biography
American conductor, coach, and pianist J. BRADLEY BAKER enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, conductor, coach, educator, and music administrator.
Baker is currently Director of the Maryland Opera Studio at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland; Principal Coach on the Music Staff of The Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, New York; and is Co-Founding Executive & Music Director of Music On Site in Wichita, Kansas.
In demand as an opera conductor and coach, Baker has served as a Principal Coach on the Music Staff of The Glimmerglass Festival since 2023, with productions of La bohème (2023), La Calisto (2024) and Tosca (2025). As part of his role at The Glimmerglass Festival, Baker coaches Resident Artists, presents pre-show lectures, and serves as pianist for multiple Festival events. In 2025, Baker was named the Director of the Maryland Opera Studio and conducts their mainstage productions each season, in addition to leading the prestigious opera training program. In previous seasons, Baker worked on productions of LOLA-Austin (TX) and Lyric Opera of Orange County (Conductor, Falstaff; Music Director/Pianist, Menotti Radio Hour; Asst. Conductor, Two Remain), Opera Arlington (Guest Coach, Cosi fan Tutte), and Landlocked Opera (Music Director, Le nozze di Figaro), to name a few. Baker has also worked with Opera Naples (Faculty Coach, Resident Artist Program), Chicago Summer Opera (Music Director, One Acts and Scenes), Franco-American Vocal Academy (Principal Coach), Wichita Grand Opera (Head Coach), Natchez Festival of Music (Repetiteur), Opera Birmingham (Pianist), Music On Site (Music Director), Tabor College Opera (Music Director), and University of Alabama Opera Theatre (Asst. Music Director). Baker has worked with many international artists, including opera superstar bass-baritones Samuel Ramey, Greer Grimsley, and William Powers, sopranos Michelle Bradley and Teresa Perotta, mezzo-sopranos Jill Grove and Eve Gigliotti, and tenors Michael Sylvester, Jonah Hoskins, and Issachah Savage.
As a collaborative pianist and chamber musician, Baker has presented nearly 300 collaborative recitals throughout the United States, Canada, France, and Italy, and has performed at many international and national conferences and festivals, including those of the International Double Reed Society, International Women’s Brass Conference, National Trumpet Competition, Hot Springs Music Festival, North American Viola Institute, Ad Astra Music Festival, National Opera Association, ClarinetFest, CollabFest, College Music Society, National Association of College Wind & Percussion Instructors, Music Teachers National Association, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing, among others. Chamber music coaches include Elizabeth DeMio, Anita Pontremoli, Virginia Weckstrom, Paul Kantor, Yi-Fang Huang, and Cleveland Quartet founding member Peter Salaff. Baker has performed for collaborative classes of renowned pedagogues and performers Robert Vernon, Jeffrey Irvine, Heidi Castelman, Warren Jones, and Margo Garrett. From 2016 to 2021, Baker was the principal pianist and celesta for Wichita Symphony Orchestra. He has also held orchestral keyboard roles at Hot Springs Music Festival, Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, and Cleveland Institute of Music and has played under the batons of conductors Daniel Hege, Joseph Colaneri, Peter Bay, Teddy Abrams, Rob Ainsley, Nader Abbassi, Adam Flatt, Mark Laycock, Michael Hanawalt, William Waldrop, Domenico Boyagian, Beth Everett, Andy Anderson, Carl Topilow, Jay Dean, Martin Mazak, and Ron Spigelman.
Baker is the Executive Director and Music Director of Music On Site, Inc. (MOSI), an opera company in Central Kansas he co-founded with his wife, opera singer and stage director Jen Stephenson. MOSI’s mission is to increase the accessibility of opera throughout the region of Central Kansas by producing engaging performances at low or no cost for underserved communities and providing high quality training and opportunities for promising emerging and early-career opera artists. Since 2016, Music On Site has performed for more than 20,000 individuals through its free-admission performances of professional opera productions in Wichita, rural communities, schools, and areas with limited access to the arts. Since its first season of 17 artists, Music On Site’s Winter Opera Festival has grown to be one of the largest opera festivals in the country, now welcoming more than 150 artists to Wichita, Kansas annually. Alums of Music On Site have come to MOSI from 43 states and 7 countries and have continued on to success at such prestigious programs as the Merola Opera Program, The Glimmerglass Festival, Wolf Trap, Des Moines Metro Opera, Aspen Music Festival, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Houston Grand Opera and HGO Studio, The Metropolitan Opera, Dallas Opera, Utah Opera, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, among many others. More information on Music On Site can be found at www.musiconsite.org.
Passionate about providing quality education to promising opera artists, Dr. Baker is currently Director of the Maryland Opera Studio at the University of Maryland, where he leads the prestigious training program and conducts their productions. Previous to his appointment at MOS, Dr. Baker was Director of Keyboard Studies at Tarleton State University, in Stephenville, Texas, where he received the University Junior Faculty Award, given in recognition of demonstrated excellence in teaching, scholarly or creative activities, and service by a junior faculty member. Dr. Baker was also Director of Keyboard Studies at Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas, where he was also Music Director for the Opera Program. While at Tabor College, Dr. Baker founded the Bach Keyboard Festival and Competition, a highly successful annual celebration of Bach’s work and life that included a performance and masterclass by an international guest keyboard artist, scholarly sessions, and competitions for pianists and organists. In addition to his work at the College, Dr. Baker directed the Tabor College Preparatory School, which served a large portion of the area community by providing high quality musical training in piano, voice, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Under his directorship, the Preparatory School experienced an enrollment growth of more than 150%. Baker has also held appointments at The University of Alabama, University of Texas at Tyler, Stillman College, and Judson College.
Highly active in service to the musical community, Dr. Baker serves as the Co-Chair of the Pianists and Conductors Committee for the National Opera Association. His research has been presented multiple times at the national conference of the National Opera Association, at Collabfest, and he has written for the NATS Journal of Singing and NOA Now. Baker has also served as President of Kansas Music Teachers Association, an organization that awarded Baker the 2021 KMTA Service Award for his years of service to the organization. As a piano adjudicator, he has judged for MTNA Young Artist Competition, Kansas Music Teachers Association State Auditions, Mississippi State Auditions, among many other local and regional festivals and competitions. Baker has also served as an adjudicator for the National Opera Association in their Opera Production Competition, as well as the NOA Robert Hansen Collegiate Opera Scenes Competition. As a master clinician, Baker has presented classes at CU-Boulder, Colorado State University, Purdue University-Fort Wayne, University of North Texas, Kansas State University, Columbus State University, University of Tennessee, University of Kentucky, Emporia State University, Washburn University, University of Arkansas, Northwest Missouri State University, Northeast Oklahoma State University, and many more.
Dr. Baker graduated magna cum laude from North Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance and was awarded the Theodore Pressor Scholar award. He went on to earn the prestigious William Kurzban award while completing his Master of Music in piano performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Baker completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from The University of Alabama.
Baker is currently Director of the Maryland Opera Studio at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland; Principal Coach on the Music Staff of The Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, New York; and is Co-Founding Executive & Music Director of Music On Site in Wichita, Kansas.
In demand as an opera conductor and coach, Baker has served as a Principal Coach on the Music Staff of The Glimmerglass Festival since 2023, with productions of La bohème (2023), La Calisto (2024) and Tosca (2025). As part of his role at The Glimmerglass Festival, Baker coaches Resident Artists, presents pre-show lectures, and serves as pianist for multiple Festival events. In 2025, Baker was named the Director of the Maryland Opera Studio and conducts their mainstage productions each season, in addition to leading the prestigious opera training program. In previous seasons, Baker worked on productions of LOLA-Austin (TX) and Lyric Opera of Orange County (Conductor, Falstaff; Music Director/Pianist, Menotti Radio Hour; Asst. Conductor, Two Remain), Opera Arlington (Guest Coach, Cosi fan Tutte), and Landlocked Opera (Music Director, Le nozze di Figaro), to name a few. Baker has also worked with Opera Naples (Faculty Coach, Resident Artist Program), Chicago Summer Opera (Music Director, One Acts and Scenes), Franco-American Vocal Academy (Principal Coach), Wichita Grand Opera (Head Coach), Natchez Festival of Music (Repetiteur), Opera Birmingham (Pianist), Music On Site (Music Director), Tabor College Opera (Music Director), and University of Alabama Opera Theatre (Asst. Music Director). Baker has worked with many international artists, including opera superstar bass-baritones Samuel Ramey, Greer Grimsley, and William Powers, sopranos Michelle Bradley and Teresa Perotta, mezzo-sopranos Jill Grove and Eve Gigliotti, and tenors Michael Sylvester, Jonah Hoskins, and Issachah Savage.
As a collaborative pianist and chamber musician, Baker has presented nearly 300 collaborative recitals throughout the United States, Canada, France, and Italy, and has performed at many international and national conferences and festivals, including those of the International Double Reed Society, International Women’s Brass Conference, National Trumpet Competition, Hot Springs Music Festival, North American Viola Institute, Ad Astra Music Festival, National Opera Association, ClarinetFest, CollabFest, College Music Society, National Association of College Wind & Percussion Instructors, Music Teachers National Association, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing, among others. Chamber music coaches include Elizabeth DeMio, Anita Pontremoli, Virginia Weckstrom, Paul Kantor, Yi-Fang Huang, and Cleveland Quartet founding member Peter Salaff. Baker has performed for collaborative classes of renowned pedagogues and performers Robert Vernon, Jeffrey Irvine, Heidi Castelman, Warren Jones, and Margo Garrett. From 2016 to 2021, Baker was the principal pianist and celesta for Wichita Symphony Orchestra. He has also held orchestral keyboard roles at Hot Springs Music Festival, Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, and Cleveland Institute of Music and has played under the batons of conductors Daniel Hege, Joseph Colaneri, Peter Bay, Teddy Abrams, Rob Ainsley, Nader Abbassi, Adam Flatt, Mark Laycock, Michael Hanawalt, William Waldrop, Domenico Boyagian, Beth Everett, Andy Anderson, Carl Topilow, Jay Dean, Martin Mazak, and Ron Spigelman.
Baker is the Executive Director and Music Director of Music On Site, Inc. (MOSI), an opera company in Central Kansas he co-founded with his wife, opera singer and stage director Jen Stephenson. MOSI’s mission is to increase the accessibility of opera throughout the region of Central Kansas by producing engaging performances at low or no cost for underserved communities and providing high quality training and opportunities for promising emerging and early-career opera artists. Since 2016, Music On Site has performed for more than 20,000 individuals through its free-admission performances of professional opera productions in Wichita, rural communities, schools, and areas with limited access to the arts. Since its first season of 17 artists, Music On Site’s Winter Opera Festival has grown to be one of the largest opera festivals in the country, now welcoming more than 150 artists to Wichita, Kansas annually. Alums of Music On Site have come to MOSI from 43 states and 7 countries and have continued on to success at such prestigious programs as the Merola Opera Program, The Glimmerglass Festival, Wolf Trap, Des Moines Metro Opera, Aspen Music Festival, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Houston Grand Opera and HGO Studio, The Metropolitan Opera, Dallas Opera, Utah Opera, and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, among many others. More information on Music On Site can be found at www.musiconsite.org.
Passionate about providing quality education to promising opera artists, Dr. Baker is currently Director of the Maryland Opera Studio at the University of Maryland, where he leads the prestigious training program and conducts their productions. Previous to his appointment at MOS, Dr. Baker was Director of Keyboard Studies at Tarleton State University, in Stephenville, Texas, where he received the University Junior Faculty Award, given in recognition of demonstrated excellence in teaching, scholarly or creative activities, and service by a junior faculty member. Dr. Baker was also Director of Keyboard Studies at Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas, where he was also Music Director for the Opera Program. While at Tabor College, Dr. Baker founded the Bach Keyboard Festival and Competition, a highly successful annual celebration of Bach’s work and life that included a performance and masterclass by an international guest keyboard artist, scholarly sessions, and competitions for pianists and organists. In addition to his work at the College, Dr. Baker directed the Tabor College Preparatory School, which served a large portion of the area community by providing high quality musical training in piano, voice, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Under his directorship, the Preparatory School experienced an enrollment growth of more than 150%. Baker has also held appointments at The University of Alabama, University of Texas at Tyler, Stillman College, and Judson College.
Highly active in service to the musical community, Dr. Baker serves as the Co-Chair of the Pianists and Conductors Committee for the National Opera Association. His research has been presented multiple times at the national conference of the National Opera Association, at Collabfest, and he has written for the NATS Journal of Singing and NOA Now. Baker has also served as President of Kansas Music Teachers Association, an organization that awarded Baker the 2021 KMTA Service Award for his years of service to the organization. As a piano adjudicator, he has judged for MTNA Young Artist Competition, Kansas Music Teachers Association State Auditions, Mississippi State Auditions, among many other local and regional festivals and competitions. Baker has also served as an adjudicator for the National Opera Association in their Opera Production Competition, as well as the NOA Robert Hansen Collegiate Opera Scenes Competition. As a master clinician, Baker has presented classes at CU-Boulder, Colorado State University, Purdue University-Fort Wayne, University of North Texas, Kansas State University, Columbus State University, University of Tennessee, University of Kentucky, Emporia State University, Washburn University, University of Arkansas, Northwest Missouri State University, Northeast Oklahoma State University, and many more.
Dr. Baker graduated magna cum laude from North Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance and was awarded the Theodore Pressor Scholar award. He went on to earn the prestigious William Kurzban award while completing his Master of Music in piano performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Baker completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from The University of Alabama.