Love of music leads former teacher to local ensemble group

Amy Bradley has played the clarinet most of her life.

In fifth grade, her school band director was introducing students to all the available instruments.

“They try to fit you to an instrument,” she explained.

The teacher told her she should play the trumpet.

“I'm like, ‘I don't want to play trumpet,’” she said. “And there was a girl at my bus stop who had a cool-looking clarinet case, and I thought, well, I like her case, so I'm gonna pick the clarinet.”

It might not have been the best way to pick an instrument.

"That was a stupid reason to pick the clarinet,” she said. “Then when I got my case, it wasn't even the same case.” 

She did like the sound, and “everything about it.”

Bradley eventually wanted to transition to the saxophone but her school band did not have them. So, a lifelong love of clarinet was born.

Bradley is now a retired music teacher and a member of the Lakewood Ranch Wind Ensemble, a group of accomplished musicians who perform several times a year in the community. The next concert is "March Melodies: A Musical Prelude to Spring" March 2 at Peace Presbyterian Church, 12705 State Road 64 East. 

“It's a nice group,” she said. “Some are working professionals right now. Some are retired teachers, band directors, and then some are people who have retired down here who are good players. 

The quality of the performances might surprise people.

“This definitely is not the random pickup band kind of thing," she said. "It's a high-level band.”

A lifetime of teaching

A graduate of Booker High School and the Florida State University School of Music, Bradley has spent most of her life in the area. She is a Florida Bandmasters Association adjudicator in the area of solo and ensemble woodwinds and concert band. 

She has served as a guest clinician for the Charlotte County All-County Bands and has taught clarinet and chamber winds at the Summer Music Festival at the University of the South. 

Most of her career was spent teaching middle school kids which often is considered one of the toughest challenges, age-wise.

“I had picked middle school, which is probably the worst developmental age possible,” she said. “They are crazy, sixth and seventh and eighth grade.” 

She said her own middle school years were not the best, but band kept her wanting to go to school. 

Photo by Jim DeLa

“I am a perfect fit for middle school kids," she said. "I wanted them to have something to go to school for. They need to be proud of something.” 

She’s also taught in elementary and high schools, “but middle school is mine, my thing,” she said. 

She also likes the challenge of teaching beginning students. Her largest class is 120 students, all learning their instruments.

“You have to have your classroom control down,” she said.

For the first couple of months, “it's not necessarily pretty sounds, but they come together.”

It’s a profession that she, and her husband, Owen, also a retired band teacher, wouldn’t have traded for anything. 

“There was a moment in college when I was about my junior year, and I'm looking around Florida State and said, hey, you know what I could have, I could have been anything. I could have been a doctor. 

“And I'm like, well, it was a little too late at that point, but I thought, ‘You know what? I can't think of anything better that I wanted to do.’” 

In addition to teaching, Bradley and her husband have also played with various groups. She was the principal clarinet for the Sarasota Pops Orchestra for more than 20 years before health issues slowed her down. 

She said the Wind Ensemble is a hidden musical gem in Lakewood Ranch.

 “We’re still just playing in a church and not in an auditorium or anything like that. 

“But gosh, the music these people can bring together is at a high level. You only rehearse twice. Twice, right? And then put the concert on. I'm hoping that people will come out and listen to it,” she said.

The March 2 concert starts at 2 p.m. at Peace Presbyterian. Learn more about the Ensemble and the remainder of the season’s schedule at the group’s website.