Oboist Abigail Bracken developed a love of music alongside her twin sister Sophia, a clarinetist. Over collaborations across the last five years, the Bracken sisters have performed works by Daniel Dorff, Arthur Berger, and Marion Bauer for this instrumentation. She is dedicated to expanding the known repertoire of clarinet and oboe duets. Abigail has taken matters into her own hands and arranged a number of works for oboe and clarinet. Currently, she is published with Songburd Music and TrevCo Music, with new releases every year.

Abigail is a proponent of increasing LGBTQ+ representation and visibility in classical music. She is a founding member of OUT Ensemble, a wind quintet of all-LGBTQ+ musicians that celebrates queer composers, represents diverse communities, and inspires listeners to embrace their authentic identities. OUT Ensemble performs regularly in venues around Ann Arbor, MI, collaborating with the Berlin Philharmonic Brass Quartet in a November 2024 performance at the HandsOn Museum. Twice a member of the International Pride Orchestra, Bracken played alongside prominent queer soloists, including Sara Davis Buechner, Thorgy Thor, and Breanna Sinclairé. At the Jacobs School of Music, she participated in the workshop presentation of Swimming in the Dark, a new opera chronicling the lives of two gay men in 1980s-era Poland in the turbulent decline of communism based on the book by Tomasz Jędrowski. Bracken hopes to continue to shine a spotlight on queer performers and composers throughout her career.

Bracken has a passion for performing music that innovates the tradition of classical training and draws people together. Bracken’s involvement in community work dates back to her monthly performances at the Court House Cultural Center in Stuart, FL, where she volunteered her time for the Sunset Concert Series organized by Dr. Marie Jureit-Beamish. Concertgoers were treated to an immersive experience of visual art accompanied by the live performances of young musicians in the area. As a soloist, she has performed with the Jacobs School of Music (JSoM) University Orchestra on Reena Esmail’s RE|Member for live and pre-recorded solo oboe, a production that united the orchestra with the school’s audio-visual team in creating the final live performance. Bracken is committed to taking these innovations beyond the concert hall and into the community. She is an avid arranger of pop and Broadway standards for wind quintet, putting a classical twist on recognizable works that are as equally popular in community centers as they are on the concert stage. Published versions of these arrangements are available from Songburd Music.

Praised by her mentors and peers for her leadership, Bracken participated in the Indiana University oboe studio’s mentorship program for reed-making and teaching courses on instrument adjustment during her time as a student. She is a recipient of the Jacobs School of Music Premier Young Artist Scholarship. As a freelancer in the Metro Detroit area, she has performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Dearborn Symphony, and the Michigan Philharmonic. She also works with the students of the Ann Arbor District schools in masterclasses and side-by-side concerts.

Bracken received her Bachelor of Music from Indiana University in May 2024, where she studied with Linda Strommen and Roger Roe. She is currently pursuing master’s degrees in Oboe Performance and Chamber Music Performance with Dr. Nancy King at the University of Michigan. Past mentors include Carrie Fox, Martha Scherer-Alfee, and Emily Beare. Outside of her musical passions, Bracken enjoys traveling around the world to see historic sites and reading fantasy to stimulate her imagination.