Gwendolyn Bradley (Gwendolyn Bradley-Willemann) is an American soprano who performed on many opera and concert stages worldwide.
Bradley grew up in Bishopville, South Carolina as daughter of public school educators which were involved in the civil rights movement. After her high school music teacher recognized her talent, she received voice lessons at Coker College in Hartsville. Bradley was further trained at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, the Curtis Institute of Music and the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.
Gwendolyn Bradley's debut was as Nannetta in Verdis's opera Falstaff at the Lake George Opera in 1976. After a very successful concert in New York in 1979 she established herself at the Metropolitan Opera, starting in 1981 as Nightingale in L'Enfant et les sortilèges (Ravel) and continuing for the next nine seasons singing such roles as Fiakermilli in Arabella, Blondchen in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Olympia in Les contes d'Hoffmann, the title role of Stravinsky's Le Rossignol, Clara in Porgy and Bess and especially as Gilda in Rigoletto. From her first appearance on March 20, 1977, to her last on January 27, 1990, Bradley sang in 108 performances at the Metropolitan Opera. She performed also in other American opera houses like the Memphis Opera, the Michigan Opera Theatre or the Central City Opera. Bradley was a frequent guest on the stage of the Los Angeles Opera as Oscar, Blondchen, Zerbinetta, Romilda, Zerlina, and in the 1997-98 season as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte.
Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad clearing" in Old English.
Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular.
It is also an Anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic name O’Brolachán (also O’Brallaghan) from County Tyrone in Ireland. The family moved and spread to counties Londonderry, Donegal and Cork, and England.
Bradley is the surname of the following notable people:
Bradley is one of the 20 electoral wards that form the Parliamentary constituency of Pendle, Lancashire, England. The ward elects three councillors to represent the Bradley area, the north-west part of Nelson, on Pendle Borough Council. As of the May 2011 Council election, Bradley had an electorate of 4,581.
Bradley has an extremely high proportion of residents from ethnic minorities; 38.5 per cent of the population are of Pakistani origin.
The Bradley was an automobile manufactured in Cicero, Illinois, USA, by the Bradley Motor Car Company. Production commenced in 1920 with the Model H tourer, which was powered by a 4 cylinder Lycoming engine, had a 116-inch wheelbase, and a selling price of $1295.
In 1921 the Model H continued in production, but was joined by the 6 cylinder powered Model F, also available as a tourer for $1500.
In November 1920, the company went into involuntary receivership, with liabilities of approximately $100,000. Although the assets held by the company were greater, including finished and party-assembled vehicles, along with a large inventory, the company was bankrupt by the end of 1921. Total production of the Bradley automobile was 263 cars.