Chineke! Junior Bradley achieves First Class Honours Degree

Huge congratulations to our Chineke! Junior Orchestra trumpeter Bradley Wilson for achieving a First Class Honours Degree from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

We would like to extend a huge congratulations to Chineke! Junior Orchestra trumpeter Bradley Wilson for achieving a well deserved First Class Honours Degree from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

We caught up with Bradley to find out more about the hard work that went in, the battles he fought, the victories won, and the lessons learnt throughout his education.

Could you tell us why you decided to pursue your instrument of choice?

I wish there was a more thought provoking answer to this, but, the answer is actually very simple. When I was younger I always wanted to be a drummer, you would see me going around the house tapping and playing rhythms on everything. Much to the annoyance of the rest of my family. When I was seven, my best friend started playing the Trumpet at school. As most children do, I simply wanted to do everything he did. Therefore, the following year I started the Trumpet as well.

What were key moments in your career so far, and how did Chineke! lend support?

While at primary school, I didn’t have any aspirations to be a trumpet player, instead I wanted to be a singer. However, when I started secondary school at Northampton School for Boys, I was put in a Big Band. I had never heard anything like it and I soon absolutely loved the sound of jazz. So, for a while I actually wanted to be a jazz musician. The turning point for me was when I was watching an episode of Doctor Who. I had been obsessed with the show for a while but then there was one episode where I was transfixed by score composed by Murray Gold. I then dived into an endless YouTube pool of music trying to find other epic orchestra pieces. This confirmed to me that I wanted to be a classical trumpet player instead.

When I was 14 I joined the Northamptonshire County Training Brass Band, this was by far the highest level of music making I had participated in at this point. One rehearsal, our conductor (Gary Fountain) was taking a bit longer than usual to finish his tea. So, I decided to conduct! It was a piece called Variations in Blue, which I soon ended up conducting in all the upcoming concerts. I made the biggest development in my playing when I started at the Junior Guildhall School of Music and Drama under the direction of Andy Mitchell. Although I loved my time here, it was the first time I acutely noticed how few people of colour there were. It baffled me that one of the largest junior departments in the UK had a finger countable amount of black people. It was at this point that I started to notice that this was the case almost everywhere you looked.

In 2019 commenced my studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire under the direction of Alan Thomas. This gave me the opportunity to really hone in on my playing and confirmed how I wanted to pursue a career as a musician. It was during my second year that Scott Wilson, my old conducting teacher at JGSMD, reached out. Scott advised my to get in contact with Chineke! So I did. Soon Chi-chi and I arranged a ZOOM meeting which was a fantastic way for me to introduce myself and talk about my experiences as a black musician. In the July of 2021 I played with the Chineke! Orchestra for the first time. This was a transformative experience that I didn’t even know I needed. To play in a room full of musicians who looked like me was the best feeling in the world, only trumped by the feeling of performing to an audience full of black people. At that point I realised that all black musicians deserve to feel the way I did, whether they are young, old, amateur or professional.

In 2022 I became a youth ambassador for the CBSO, this exposed me to the world of arts management which I found an unlikely passion for. I was able to take my experiences of working with professional musicians at Chineke! and my experiences from working with other young musicians at RBC. This two different but very important experiences allowed me to successfully organise (along with other ambassadors) a concert tailor made for a young and diverse audience.

What were some of the main challenges you faced during this time, and how did you approach them?

During my first year at conservatoire, I became convinced that no one of colour composed any orchestral music worth noting. This was definitely what I took from comments in lectures etc …

At the beginning of my second year, I had my first conversation with Chi-chi. This opened my eyes to a whole world of music I never knew existed. Not only did these composers look like me, they had produced some of the best music I had ever heard. I then went on a mission to try and change the curriculum at conservatoire. It seemed criminal to be denying students the knowledge of these composers. I became the school representative and used the platform to have meetings with senior staff and campaign for change. Often meeting push back from staff was difficult for me and I often contemplated giving up. I would contact people at Chineke! often, for support and advice.

I am proud to say that the curriculum has become so much more inclusive since then. This is due to hard work across so many different channels and I am proud to have played a part in this. If it wasn’t for Chineke! I don’t think I would have ever had the courage to speak out against such a huge institutions. I now make sure to question and challenge the practices of any music organisation I work in. This is important to try and reduce complacency and stagnation.

Overcoming these challenges put me in a position to organise a huge final project. I started Underscore. The Midlands’ first orchestra for global majority musicians and their allies, celebrating the popular music from cultures around the world. Setting up this ensemble was definitely challenging and the help and support I received from The Peoples Orchestra was invaluable. While the knowledge and experience gained from Chineke! was paramount. The feeling I got from my first Chineke! Performance was so powerful I decided that everyone deserves to feel this when performing, whether that be professional for just for fun.

All of this as well as the practical experience I have gained from being a part of Chineke!, is what made my first class degree possible.

And what’s next for you, Bradley?

My goals for the future are to continue developing Underscore, while advocating for change across all musical institutions. I aim to be a critical and constructive voice in the the arts world and hope to make a difference. If I can take what I have learnt and change at least one established ensemble then I will be overjoyed.

Click here to find out more about the Chineke! Junior Orchestra and the opportunities it provides for talented young musicians.