Biography

Clarinetist Sophia Bracken is committed to making classical music accessible to communities across the country. As executive director of OUT Ensemble, she works to elevate the voices of LGBTQ+ composers and create a welcoming space for queer voices in classical music. The group’s annual Pride Concert Series presents music by LGBTQ+ composers in venues ranging from concert halls to art galleries.

Praised by Sandra Chappell of the U.S. Naval Academy Band as being “expressive with lovely tone,” Bracken won the first prize of the Sidney Forrest Clarinet Competition and the Treasure Coast Symphony Concerto Competition performing Debussy’s Premiere Rhapsodie. She holds the position of principal clarinet with the Dearborn Symphony, having previously served as the third and bass clarinetist with the Old Bay New Music Ensemble in Baltimore, MD. As part of her ongoing community work, Bracken has performed solo and chamber music recitals in museums, churches, and art galleries, integrating classical music into everyday spaces to reach new audiences. In her role as the Institutional Giving Manager at ArtOps, Bracken works to bring arts projects to fruition in southeast Michigan.

Bracken is committed to promoting new works of classical music and is an active commissioner of new music, having premiered many works with OUT Ensemble. As an undergraduate at the Peabody Conservatory, she premiered a variety of solo, chamber, and orchestral works, including the preview of Irya Aleksiychuk’s Go where the wind takes you under the direction of Marin Alsop. Her discography includes OUT Ensemble’s debut album Seasons of Change and an upcoming Naxos album of composer Du Yun’s Mythology Series, recorded by Maestra Alsop and the Peabody Symphony Orchestra.

In 2026, Bracken received her Master of Music in clarinet and chamber music performance at the University of Michigan studying with Chad Burrow and Daniel Gilbert. She received her Bachelor of Music and Business of Music Minor from the Peabody Conservatory in May 2024, where she studied with Alexander Fiterstein. When not making music, Bracken enjoys visiting secondhand bookstores to find new authors and hiking in national parks.

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