Student Profile on Abbie Bradley

Photo provided by Rampage student photographer Rachel Hendrick.

Abbie Bradley is a Bluefield University senior who will be graduating this spring. She has been with the university since the fall of 2022 as a general music major with a concentration in voice and a minor in Christian studies.

 As part of the culmination of her studies, Bradley will be performing her senior recital in the spring of 2026 — something she said has been “a long time coming.”

“I’m excited just to have all of my favorite people in one place,” Bradley said. “It’s the culmination of a lot of work and a lot that I have learned over the past few years. I’m nervous, but I am excited just to be able to share that with all of my people.”  

Bradley has enjoyed her time with Bluefield and working with the choirs and worship teams to strengthen the sense of community on and off campus through her musical studies and performances.

“I’ve been studying some more classical music while I’ve been a music major; that’s a lot of what music majors do,” Bradley said, “but I have probably used my music ability most leading worship, and there’s definitely been a lot of really standout moments doing that.”

Bradley said being a part of the worship team has not only allowed her to hone her musical skills, but also serve the campus and broader community.

“We’ve had some really, really cool opportunities to be able to serve our community and to go to some different places, and we’re getting more of those every month,” she said. “We get cool opportunities like that all the time, so that’s been really awesome.”

Participating in worship ministry she said has allowed her to travel to some “really amazing places,” and through those experiences she said she has really grown.

“I look back to even when I had just started college, and now I see how much I’ve grown in my singing and musical ability in general,” Bradley said. “My knowledge and my ability even to play piano and different things like that (has) really grown a lot over the past few years. Now I think I’ve developed to such a higher level than what I was before. That’s probably the most encouraging thing to me right now, just from performance experience and being around a lot of excellent musicians.”

Bradley also has high hopes for the future of the Music Department at Bluefield University. After being a part of the campus while the department was going through difficult times and major staff changes, she thinks things are looking up for the Music Department.

“We have six incoming music majors this year that are freshmen,” said Bradley. “A couple of them are transfers, but still, it’s a lot. It’s a lot more than what we have had in the last few years, and a lot of that has to do with the change of faculty and how much better the culture is. Our education is a lot better than what it was in years prior, and so people want to come because it’s actually a really good place to learn now. Just the culture in general is so much better than what it was before.”

Bradley plans to keep the spirit of music she found alive in her heart and connect with the communities and musicians around her.

“Music has been a really big part of my life for several years now,” she said. “I love that. Especially this year, I’ve really found joy in making music again. That’s one of the most encouraging things that I’ve had this year is seeing my skills develop by being around a lot of really talented musicians who are extremely skilled at what they do, but really just finding joy and appreciation for the beauty of what music is and being able to do it well. It’s a huge privilege.”