DMA 1983, Wind Performance, University of Michigan; MMus 1977, Wind Performance, University of Michigan; BMus 1975, Ball State University
DMA 1983, Wind Performance, University of Michigan; MMus 1977, Wind Performance, University of Michigan; BMus 1975, Ball State University
Brad Foley earned the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in performance from the University of Michigan where he studied saxophone with the legendary Donald Sinta and oboe with Arno Mariotti, former principal oboe of the Detroit Symphony. He earned the Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from Ball State University in music education where he studied with the American pioneer of the concert saxophone, Cecil Leeson.
Foley has performed across the United States and Canada in numerous settings as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician playing the saxophone and oboe. Past editor of the Saxophone Symposium and treasurer of the North American Saxophone Alliance, he has performed with the Eugene Symphony, Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra, the Eugene Symphonic Band, the Virginia Symphony, the New Carolina Sinfonia, the East Texas Symphony, the Longview (Texas) Symphony, and the Indianapolis Symphonic Band. He has presented and performed at meetings of the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors as well as the North American Saxophone Alliance and the North Carolina Music Educators Association.
Foley served as dean of the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance from September 2002 – June 2018. In fall of 2018, he returned to teaching and performing full time as well as directing the UO’s prestigious ChamberMusic@Beall concert series.
Since his arrival in Oregon, Foley has served on the boards of the Oregon Bach Festival and the Eugene Symphony Orchestra; he has served as a visiting evaluator for the National Association of Schools of Music; and was elected to serve on the NASM Commission on Accreditation through December 2020. As a graduate of the University of Michigan, he also serves on the Board of Governors for the UM School of Music, Theatre, and Dance through Spring 2021.
Prior to his appointment at the University of Oregon, Foley served as dean, assistant dean, and professor of saxophone in the School of Music at East Carolina University during a 23-year tenure at that institution, and at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas as an instructor of woodwinds.