Desmond Bratton is a freelance bassist and pedagogue passionate about community engagement through the art of musical conversation. He holds a Masters of Music from Ithaca College, where he studied double bass performance with Nicholas Walker. Desmond has since been invited to participate in the music festival Le Domaine Forget in northern Quebec, there he studied with Paul Ellison of the Houston Grand Opera, David Allen Moore of the L.A. Philharmonic, and Scott Dixon of the Cleveland Orchestra. As a pedagogue, Desmond currently holds a guest lecturer position at Cornell University, as well as teaching at Ithaca’s local music school, Opus Ithaca. Desmond also spends the summer season teaching and performing in Miami, Florida, where he’s been invited as a guest performer and teacher with the Greater Miami Youth Symphony, and the Miami Youth Chamber Music, with members of the University of Miami Music Faculty, San Francisco Opera, and the New World Symphony. Desmond’s first major performance was created for the Moffit Cancer Center, where he used songs from West African, African American, and Jewish traditions to bring patients, family, staff, and members of the local community together.
Mayfest 