Dr. Bradley Vogel
Music Performance Specialist - Sales, KS Office
Conductor, pianist, composer, poet, avid reader, and learner – there are so many interesting and enriching things in the world that life is too short to explore!
When I Joined ETA & What I Love About Working Here
Professional Background
Dr. Bradley Vogel has enjoyed more than 40 years conducting both choral and instrumental ensembles. After a dozen years in public school education and church music ministry, he embarked on a 22-year career as Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Tabor College, and most recently concluded his teaching career as Director of Choral Activities at McPherson College. While at Tabor College, he was the recipient of the Clarence R. Hiebert Excellence in Teaching Award, and served as chair of the Department of Music as well as the Division of Performing and Visual Arts. Under his leadership, the Tabor College Concert Choir was selected to perform at the Kansas Music Educators Association State Convention six times, and he planned and led 22 ten-day concert tours throughout the Midwest, northern and southern states, and California. In honor of his service to the institution, the choral rehearsal room in the new Flaming Center for the Arts at Tabor College was named the Vogel Choral Room.
An active adjudicator and clinician, Dr. Vogel has conducted 50 choral festivals, and annually adjudicates state festivals in Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Additionally, he is a commissioned composer, with works published by MusicSpoke and Imagine Music Publishing. In 2018 he was awarded the Harry Robert Wilson Award by the Kansas chapter of the American Choral Directors Association in recognition of lifetime contributions to choral music in Kansas. In 2019 he enjoyed his Carnegie Hall debut, conducting Ola Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass, and in 2022 conducted Mark Hayes’ Te Deum. In May 2025 he returned to Carnegie Hall to conduct John Leavitt’s Missa Festiva, and will lead Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria in April 2026, and Elaine Hagenberg’s Illuminare in May 2027. In his work with Educational Travel Adventures, he enjoys providing these performance opportunities to schools, creating enriching performance tours for schools across the country and around the world.
Fun Facts About Brad
Interesting Facts
I’m a regular conductor in Carnegie Hall, have won a national piano competition, and have a framed Certificate of Wit from A Prairie Home Companion signed by Garrison Keillor (I’m certifiably funny).
Favorite Place Traveled:
A Danube river cruise, with the opportunity to experience the rich cultural heritage and beauty of this region through central Europe, culminating in visits to Salzburg and Vienna and the homes and museums of Mozart and Beethoven. Nearly annual trips to the mountains of Colorado and cherished family times and memories.
Favorite subject to study in school:
History. The triumphs of humans through challenging times is a strong motivation for me.
Most Recent Passport Stamp:
Hungary.
Most unexpected moment while traveling:
When the Manitou Incline was still operable (before it because an intense straight incline hike), my wife I rode the incline to the top of Mount Manitou, and planned to take a leisurely stroll down the trail; it had to be leisurely, as she was 6 months pregnant at the time. We had barely begun our casual descent when clouds rolled in, the wind picked up, the rain began . . . and a lightning bolt crashed nearby. A half-hour later we were at our car, having run pell mell down the mountain, despite the current health situation.
Window seat or aisle seat?
Aisle. I have long legs . . .
Dream destination (not yet visited):
Northern Germany Rhein region.
Go-to travel snack:
Peanut Butter trail mix – sweet and salty!
One thing I hope students gain from traveling:
Learning only exists by experiencing something new, and the best learning occurs outside of one’s comfort zone. As a teacher I always encourage (i.e. “pushed”) students to reach for something they’d never done before – something that was beyond their current level of achievement so that they could learn the far reaches of their ability, and not just “do what they did now.” I love seeing students experience a new world that opens new and possible vistas for them.
