Brad Wells

Lyell B. Clay artist in residence Brad Wells directs the vocal program and teaches courses in conducting, arranging and voice science and style at Williams College. Wells is also founder and artistic director of the GRAMMY-winning vocal ensemble, Roomful of Teeth. This new music “vocal band,” praised by WQXR as “the future of vocal music,” performs regularly in festivals, on concert stages and in educational residencies nationally and internationally. Roomful of Teeth’s debut recording, directed by Wells and praised as “sensually stunning” by the New York Times, included the Pulitzer-winning composition, Partita for 8 Voices, by ensemble member Caroline Shaw. His own compositions – featured on the group’s second album, Render (2015) – have been described as “objectively and subjectively gorgeous” (I Care If You Listen). Wells has held conducting positions at Yale University, Trinity College, University of California at Berkeley and California State University, Chico, and has directed choirs of all ages. His ensembles have performed throughout North and South America, in Europe and in South Africa. Wells has lectured and published articles on the physiology and acoustics of non-classical vocal styles and the role of singing in film. As a singer, he has performed and recorded with such ensembles as Paul Hillier's Theatre of Voices and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. Wells holds degrees from Yale University, the University of Texas at Austin and Principia College.