Originally from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Brad Curran is a B.M.E. graduate of the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh. He began playing trumpet in the fourth grade and was playing gigs and arranging by age twelve. Since that time, he has had the good fortune to perform in a variety of musical settings ranging from classical to jazz to pop/rock including appearances with jazz stars Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Med Flory and Supersax, Conte Candoli, Bill Watrous and Buddy DeFranco among others. Other diverse credits include the San Diego Concert Jazz Band, the Temptations, the Miss Wisconsin Pagaent Orchestra,musical director and trumpet soloist with the Jan Garber Orchestra,various symphony orchestras, wind ensembles, brass ensembles and numerous recording sessions. Curran was the musical arranger for the Miss Wisconsin Pageant (before they went to pre-recorded music), as well as writing for school bands, jazz bands, dance bands, solo trumpet and commercial music. He has taught trumpet students at all levels and founded the annual Jazz Workshop associated with the Fond du Lac Jazz Festival.

Curran has studied with Jan Jacobi, Paul Smoker, Allen Butcher, Robert Levy, John Harmon, Bobby Shew, and Clark Terry among others .

Brad is in his 17th year of teaching instrumental music at Seton Catholic Middle School in Menasha, plays principal trumpet with the Oshkosh Brass Quintet, is a featured jazz soloist with the 18 piece Appleton-based "Big Band Reunion", leads the Jazz Quartet DIG , the Mid-West Coast Jazz Octet, the "Birth of the Cool" Revisited, and leads one of the Green Bay Packers "Tailgaters" bands. In addition to free-lance performance, arranging and recording work with a number of midwest bands, he also maintains a busy private teaching studio consisting of anywhere from 12 to 20 students. A huge advocate of jazz education, Brad is the current president of the Wisconsin unit of the International Association for Jazz Education.

Available for clinics/workshops, concerts, and as a wedding soloist, Brad Curran also has a limited number of openings for serious trumpet students interested in private study at his studios.


Areas of study include

E-mail: jazztrp@curranmusic.com

(return to CMS Homepage)