Bradley Detrick grew up in a musical family in Lima, Ohio. He began his musical training at the age of 8, studying piano with Don Hurless, who was to become a life-long mentor in improvisation, arranging, and composing. Taking up the trumpet with the school band program at age 11, he was soon writing compositions for jazz ensemble, marching band, and other school ensembles, while playing percussion professionally under the tutelage of his father Dale Detrick. Receiving his Bachelor of Music degree at Bowling Green State University, he studied composition with Marilyn Shrude, Burton Beerman, and Donald Wilson, while also writing extensively for the improvisation ensemble Black Earth Rhythm Emporium. At the University of Miami, while receiving his Master of Music degree, he studied jazz composition with Ron Miller and was particularly influenced in the area of modal harmony. After more than three years on the road with the Glenn Miller Orchestra as trumpet soloist and arranger, he moved to NYC where he was soon performing and recording his compositions with the mystic pilgrims jazz quintet. The 2004 Merkin Hall production of Prophecies, Detrick's oratorio for narrator, 5 soloists, choir, and percussion ensemble, marked a new compositional direction in exploring vocal music. Detrick's first operatic offering, The Yellow Star, was premiered in concert version on February 13, 2008 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage (NYC). A second production of the opera took place on October 28, 2008, at Iona College (New Rochelle, NY). To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the rescue of Danish Jews, Detrick's opera was performed in a fully-staged and orchestrated production October 21 & 22, 2018 at Dixon Place (NYC) and October 27 & 28, 2018 at the Clifton Jewish Center (NJ).
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