He is a double bass player born Bradley Alan Opland in Minot, North Dakota whose father was a public school orchestra teacher and his mother a local piano teacher. studied music from a young age and had decided by the time he was 10 years old that he wanted to perform with a symphony orchestra. He graduated from high school and relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he studied at the Curtis Institute of Music.
When he was 18 years old he became one of the youngest bass players appointed to the Minnesota Orchestra and he remained with the orchestra during the conductorship of Sir Neville Marriner.
Sir George Solti invited him to become a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1984. He also performs as a member of Chicago Chamber Musicians.
Recordings he has performed on include The American Clarinet: Music of Copland Bernstein Gershwin Gould and John Harbison: Chamber Music by the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Corigiliano: Symphony No 1, Haydn: The Seasons, Wagner: Overture and Preludes, Brahms: Violin Concerto/Sonata No. 3, Solti/Chicago: The Complete Recordings and the soundtrack to the film Lincoln by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Crossing the Line by Eddie Daniels, Yellowstone: The Music of Nature and Fresh Aire 7 by Mannheim Steamroller and Tribute to Ellington by various artists.
In the field of musical education he has been on the faculty of DePaul University.
Sources:
- https://cso.org/about/performers/cso-musicians/strings/bass/bradley-opland/
- http://www.chicagosymphonymusicians.com/bradley-opland.html
- https://doublebassblog.org/2007/08/brad-opland-on-contrabass-conversations.html
- https://www.instantencore.com/contributor/bio.aspx?CId=5052234
- https://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/chicago-chamber-musicians/
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/4003711-Bradley-Opland?type=Credits&filter_anv=0
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/brad-opland-mn0001618793