Biography

Soprano Greta Bradman has enjoyed equal success in mainstream operatic repertory and crossover projects. She is also a high-profile radio show host. Bradman was born in Adelaide, Australia, in 1979. Her birth name was Greta Bradsen. Her grandfather was Australian cricket star Sir Donald Bradman; her family changed the name to Bradsen to avoid publicity connected with the celebrity athlete, but later restored the original name, including for Greta. Bradman graduated from the Elder Conservatorium of Music in Adelaide, but struggled with the decision as to whether to devote her life to music; she earned a master's degree in psychology and had a clinical practice for several years. She continues to sit on the boards of the boards of the Australian Mental Health Prize and the Arts Wellbeing Collective. Unusually, Bradman, who is married to computer executive Didier Elzinga, was influenced by her two children in choosing music; she told the Australian Women's Weekly that "[m]usic is something that can connect generations and can connect you back to your childhood -- I had no sense of that until I had kids." So, with the help of an Australian National Academy of Music fellowship, she enrolled for a graduate degree in vocal studies at the Wales International Academy of Voice in the U.K., where she studied under Kiri Te Kanawa and Dennis O'Neill. She also attracted the attention of conductor Richard Bonynge, long associated with the career of soprano Joan Sutherland. Bonynge cast her in the title role in Handel's Rodelinda in 2014 and conducted her major-label debut, My Hero, on the Decca label the following year. Since then, Bradman has had a top-flight international career, appearing in major opera productions across Australia and in concert across Australia, the U.S., and in several Asian countries. Bradman has championed Australian composers and participated in the recording The Domestic Sublime: The Vocal Music of Katy Abbott (2016). She was profiled on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation program Australian Story in 2015. A major debut, with the Australian Opera in a 2017 production of Puccini's La bohème, was almost derailed by complications from vocal surgery, but she recovered in time. She released the recital album Home in 2018, and in 2020, was featured on an album of Mendelssohn works with the Tinalley String Quartet on Decca. Bradman has gained national visibility in Australia as a presenter on the ABC Classic FM radio network.