Adrian Bradbury was principal cello in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain before winning scholarships to Churchill College, Cambridge (where he read Veterinary Science and Music) and then to the Royal Academy of Music. After further study in Berlin he developed an international career in chamber music as the cellist in Composers Ensemble, Jane’s Minstrels, Trio Gemelli, Touchwood Piano Quartet and Chamber Domaine, winning a Royal Philharmonic Society Chamber Award and giving world premieres of solos and chamber works by Thomas Adès, Guy Barker, Judith Bingham, Tansy Davies, Dai Fujikura, James MacMillan, Naresh Sohal, Hugh Wood and John Woolrich.
Adrian is a regular guest principal player with orchestras including BBC Symphony Orchestra, English National Opera, Ensemble Modern, London Sinfonietta, London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and is Cello Tutor for the National Youth Orchestra.
His research into ensemble synchronisation, in collaboration with Professor Alan Wing, is published by the Royal Society and led to invitations to curate a ‘Music and Brain’ series at the Aldeburgh Festival and to appear as speaker on BBC Radio 4’s ‘PM’ and ‘Today’ programmes and on Radio 3.
His discography includes the complete operatic fantasies of 19th-century cello virtuoso Alfredo Piatti (with pianist Oliver Davies) and ‘The Pre-Raphaelite Cello’ (with pianist Andrew West).