About the Director
Bradley Cardella grew up in Lemont Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and attended Central Elementary School, Old Quarry Middle School, and Lemont Township High School. His family has a musical background, as his mother played piano and father played guitar in their youth. Mr. Cardella earned a Bachelor of Music Education with licensure and Bachelor of Music Composition and Theory degree from Illinois State University, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a cumulative and major grade point average of 3.91 on a 4.00 scale. During his time at ISU he served as principal oboist and English hornist of the Illinois State University Wind Symphony and Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Cardella is a recipient of the ISU Mary Jo Brown Scholarship for outstanding service to the department of music and exceptional musical talent, the Lemont Township High School music department award, a director's award from Old Quarry Middle School, and is a three time winner of the Illinois Music Education Association Composition Competition.
Mr. Cardella has studied oboe and English horn with Alicia Cordoba-Tait and Judith Dicker, composition with Martha C. Horst, Carl Schimmel, Alexander Miller, Yao Chen, and William Koehler and music education with Stephan K. Steele and Joseph Manfredo. He is also a member of the Illinois Music Education Association. In 5th grade, Mr. Cardella chose to play the oboe and has now played it for 17 years. Additionally, he has experience playing saxophone semi-professionally, mallet percussion in marching band, piano, and electric guitar. Mr. Cardella has previously taught preschool-8th grade in vocal, instrumental, and general music in Lemont Illinois. As a composer, he has written classical, jazz, tango, and rock music, some of which can be heard on his YouTube page (search “Brad Cardella music” on YouTube). Additionally, he has been commissioned to arrange music for chamber ensembles. Mr. Cardella's philosophy of education is as follows: "As an educator I am committed to providing students with a focused, rewarding experience shaped for the 21st century learner. Through teaching that utilizes creativity and critical thinking, students grow to become innovative thinkers. In conjunction with collaboration and communication between the students, their peers, the community, and parents, education flourishes into a network of shared learning. My goal as an educator is to facilitate and create opportunities for students, regardless of culture or gender, and to help them realize their own potential and future role in our culturally interwoven world." -Updated 2018-2019 |