J. Bradley Baker

Appointed Fall 2025

American conductor, coach, pianist and administrator J. Bradley Baker enjoys a versatile career both in and out of the concert hall, currently serving as 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 Co-Founding Executive & Music Director of Music On Site in Wichita, Kansas.

In addition to his ongoing work with Maryland Opera Studio, The Glimmerglass Festival, and Music On Site, Baker has worked on operatic productions with Opera Naples, Wichita Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Orange County, Opera Arlington, Landlocked Opera, Chicago Summer Opera, Opera Seme, Natchez Festival of Music, Opera Birmingham, LOLA-Austin, Franco-American Vocal Academy, Tabor College Opera, and the University of Alabama Opera Theatre. Baker has collaborated with many noted international opera artists, including Samuel Ramey, Greer Grimsley, Jill Grove, Eve Gigliotti, Michelle Bradley, Michael Sylvester, Yongzhou Yu and Issachah Savage.

Dedicated to training the next generation of opera artists and bringing opera to new audiences, Baker is the Executive and Music Director of Music On Site, Inc. (MOSI), an opera company in Central Kansas that he co-founded with his wife, opera singer and stage director Jen Stephenson. MOSI’s mission is to increase the accessibility of opera 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 throughout Central Kansas, particularly focusing their efforts on rural locations with limited or no access to the arts. Since its first production in 2017 featuring six singing-actors, Music On Site’s Winter Opera Festival has grown to be one of the largest opera festivals in the country, welcoming more than 150 artists annually, including pianists, conductors, stage directors, orchestral musicians and production interns. Alumni of Music On Site have continued on to success at such prestigious programs as the Merola Opera Program, The Glimmerglass Festival, Wolf Trap, Des Moines Metro Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Aspen Music Festival, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Scottish Opera, 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. 

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. Chamber music coaches include Elizabeth DeMio, Anita Pontremoli, Virginia Weckstrom, Paul Kantor, Yi-Fang Huang and Cleveland Quartet founding member Peter Salaff. From 2016 to 2021, Baker was the principal pianist and celesta for the Wichita Symphony Orchestra (KS). Prior to his appointment in Wichita Symphony, Baker also held orchestral keyboard roles at Hot Springs Music Festival (AR), Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra (AL) and Cleveland Institute of Music (OH).

An avid scholar and academic in service to the musical community, Dr. Baker currently serves as 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 coauthored articles featured in the NATS Journal of Singing and NOA Now. From 2029–2021, Baker served as President of the Kansas Music Teachers Association and was awarded the 2021 KMTA Service Award for his years of service to the organization. Valued for his contributions to student learning, Baker was awarded the university-wide Outstanding Junior Faculty Award during his second year of employment at Tarleton State University (TX), and he has been invited to present masterclasses at many music schools through the US, including The University of North Texas, Baylor University, The University of Colorado at Boulder, The University of Arkansas, Kansas State University, The University of Missouri and Florida State University, among others.