Brad Cresswell

Born in Chicago, Cresswell grew up in Moline, Illinois, where he sang in the Moline Boys Choir. His interest in music continued through high school, where he learned to play several instruments and also began composing. Cresswell subsequently attended Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa; the St. Louis Conservatory and School for the Arts, and Boston's New England Conservatory of Music.{{cite web |url=http://brad.cresswell.com/bio.html |title=Brad Cresswell Biography |accessdate=28 January 2015 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050204042443/http://brad.cresswell.com/bio.html |archivedate=4 February 2005 }}

Cresswell made his professional debut in Richard Strauss's opera Elektra with Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, a performance which was later released on Philips Records.{{cite web |url=http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=56451 |title=Strauss: Elektra / Ozawa, Behrens, Ludwig, Hynninen, BSO |date=30 October 1997 |website=ArkivMusic |accessdate=28 January 2015}} He also performs the tenor solos in what The Penguin Record Guide calls a "unique recording" of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra under Benjamin Zander. The recording purports to use Beethoven's original tempo markings, which differ markedly from those normally heard in modern performance.{{cite web |url=http://www.benjaminzander.com/recordings/boston-philharmonic/beet9/review/86 |title=Zander's Beethoven Ninth Symphony |website=Benjamin Zander |accessdate=28 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140602054723/http://benjaminzander.com/recordings/boston-philharmonic/beet9/review/86 |archive-date=2 June 2014 |url-status=dead }}

Cresswell sang several premieres for both Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Santa Fe Opera, including Judith Weir's The Vanishing Bridegroom and Blond Eckbert.{{Citation |last=Rothstein |first=Edward |year=1992 |title=Review/Music; A Scottish Opera Has U.S. Premiere in St. Louis |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/04/arts/review-music-a-scottish-opera-has-us-premiere-in-st-louis.html |accessdate=28 January 2015 }}{{Citation |last=Holland|first=Bernard|year=1994 |title=MUSIC REVIEW; A Judith Weir Opera In Which Truth Is Harmful to Health |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/16/arts/music-review-a-judith-weir-opera-in-which-truth-is-harmful-to-health.html |accessdate=28 January 2015 }} He also created the role of the poet John Lorimond in David Carlson's The Midnight Angel, to a libretto and original story by author Peter S. Beagle, which was commissioned by Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Glimmerglass Opera, and Sacramento Opera.{{cite web |url=http://www.operaamerica.org/applications/nawd/newworks/details.aspx?id=570 |title=North American Works Directory |website=Opera America |accessdate=28 January 2015}} For Chicago Lyric Opera, Cresswell created a role in Anthony Davis' opera Amistad, based on the 1839 slave revolt aboard the Spanish schooner La Amistad. Cresswell appears in the original cast recording of Amistad under conductor Dennis Russell Davies on New World Records.{{cite web |url=http://www.newworldrecords.org/uploads/fileOatfj.pdf |title=Amistad: Opera in Two Acts |website=New World Records |accessdate=29 January 2015}}

Throughout the 1990s Cresswell performed regularly at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.{{cite web |url=http://www.lyricopera.org/about/template.aspx?id=2306&LangType=1033 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402122748/http://www.lyricopera.org/about/template.aspx?id=2306&LangType=1033 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 April 2015 |title=Cast Lists - 1990 through 1999 |website=Lyric Opera of Chicago |accessdate=29 January 2015 }} During this time, he also made important debuts with the New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington Opera, and the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires.

File:Patricia Racette-and-Brad Cresswell.jpg with host Brad Cresswell during the Metropolitan Opera Quiz, 2012]]

During the early 2000s Cresswell joined the NPR affiliate in New York City, WNYC, as a music host and producer. At WNYC, Cresswell helped to create one of the first contemporary classical music services on the internet and HD radio, WNYC2.{{cite web |url=http://www.wgte.org/wgte/item.asp?item_id=2222 |title=A New Voice: FM 91 Welcomes Brad Cresswell |website=WGTE Public Media |accessdate=29 January 2015}} He has also made guest appearances on the popular Public Radio programs Studio 360 and Radiolab.{{cite web |url=http://www.studio360.org/story/107422-my-nature-documentary/ |title=Jack Handey: My Nature Documentary |website=WNYC |accessdate=29 January 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://www.radiolab.org/story/91533-sleep-deprivation/|title=Radiolab: Sleep Deprivation |website=WNYC |accessdate=29 January 2015}} In 2007 Cresswell received the first ASCAP Deems Taylor Multimedia Award for his work on the online music festival [http://www.wnyc.org/clusters/2007/sep/04/24-hours-and-33-minutes-playful-and-playable-cage/ 24 Hours and 33 Minutes, The Playful and Playable Cage].{{cite web |url=http://www.ascap.com/press/2007/101507_deems.html |title=40th Annual ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards Announced |website=ASCAP |accessdate=29 January 2015}}

Cresswell has written extensively for the Metropolitan Opera Radio channel on Sirius Satellite Radio. He has also been a regular panelist for the popular Opera Quiz intermission feature heard during the Met's live Saturday matinee broadcasts. In 2012 Cresswell was named one of three revolving hosts for the Opera Quiz, which is broadcast by more than 300 stations worldwide.

In 2009 Cresswell joined WGTE-FM in Toledo, Ohio as Music Director and Host. He currently hosts a daily program of classical music which includes occasional interviews with artists. He also produces concert broadcasts from the Toledo Symphony, and hosts a monthly live performance/talk show.

At WGTE, Cresswell created a radio series called Living American Composers: New Music from Bowling Green, which is distributed by The WFMT Radio Network to more than 160 radio stations worldwide.{{Citation |last=Vallongo |first=Sally |year=2015 |title=Locally produced series opens new season on FM 91 |publisher=Toledo Blade |url=http://www.toledoblade.com/Peach-Weekender/2015/01/22/Locally-produced-series-opens-new-season-on-FM91.html |accessdate=29 January 2015 }} The program features music and commentary from contemporary composers, with performances coming from the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music at Bowling Green State University (BGSU). Among the musicians frequently heard is Pulitzer and Grammy winning composer Jennifer Higdon, who is an alumna of BGSU.{{Citation |last=Vallongo |first=Sally |year=2013 |title=BGSU to produce classical music radio program |publisher=Toledo Blade |url=http://www.toledoblade.com/BGSU/2013/08/29/BGSU-to-produce-classical-music-radio-program.html |accessdate=29 January 2015 }}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://twitter.com/bcresswell Brad Cresswell] on Twitter
• [http://www.allmusic.com/artist/brad-cresswell-mn0000076438/credits Brad Cresswell discography] at AllMusic
• [https://vimeo.com/57356778 Mad About Opera: Caffe Taci in New York] 2007 German documentary starring Cresswell on Vimeo
• [http://www.wfmt.com/main.taf?p=12,2,17 Living American Composers: New Music from Bowling Green] series website from WFMT
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20141221122625/http://www.wgte.org/wgte/listen/index.asp?page_id=1997 Classical Conversations] interview archive from WGTE-FM

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Category:American radio personalities

Category:People from Moline, Illinois

Category:Classical music radio presenters

Category:Living people

Category:New England Conservatory alumni

Category:Singers from Illinois

Category:American operatic tenors

Category:Classical musicians from Illinois

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)