Bridgette Etienne

Born in Jamaica (West Indies) and raised in NY state, Bridgette grew up performing on stage as a musician. With her mother having influential friendships with the famous West Side Story Composer and Conductor, Leonard Bernstein through "Aunt" Helen Coates, his secretary and former piano teacher, Bridgette seemed destined for the stage. From a small child, she discovered that music, visual arts, athletics and writtenword came naturally. Having a petite stature, Bridgette got used to being asked why she chose such a large instrument to major in such as the String Bass. Her response is always, "The Bass picked me. It started as a love-hate relationship, but once I won my first competition and did my first solo performance at 9, I was hooked." Bridgette's dedication and musical ability enabled her to win many nationwide competitions & scholarships throughout high school & university such as Music Education National Conference (MENC), Nyssma, the NY Philharmonic and Eastman School of Music Merit Scholarships. She honed her skills within the Empire State Youth Orchestra (ESYO), performed in bands, string trios, solo performances, studied privately with principal players of the Boston, Pennsylvania, Rochester, Albany, NY & Cincinnati Symphony's and attended prestigious music festivals such as Boston University's Tanglewood, Chautauqua, Round Top, and many others. Bridgette has also performed with world-renowned musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma, Seiji Ozawa, & Leonard Slatkin and has met or done master classes with others such as Bobby McFerrin, Jessye Norman, Wynton Marsalis, etc. Having studied with esteemed bass professor and world-renowned soloist, James VanDemark, Bridgette is a graduate of the prestigious music conservatory, Eastman School of Music - University of Rochester, NY. Following a dream of becoming a martial artist, and nurturing a childhood idolization of Bruce Lee, Bridgette became a member of the World Tae Kwon Do Federation whilst attending U of R and within 4 years earned a brown belt with high honors. She finished school just as she was preparing for a black belt. After graduating with a BM in Bass Performance, Music Education and a Journalism minor, Bridgette went on to enlist in the US Marine Corps. While finishing her degree with an 8-month journalism internship through the USMC Recruiting Depot, she published her first featured magazine article on the historical importance of music and the arts throughout military history. After graduating as the 2nd highest in her platoon with an award for expert marksmanship from Parris Island, Marine Boot Camp training and attending the Armed Forces School of Music to learn electric bass, Bridgette was hand selected by San Diego Band Officer, CWO Harris to join his band. Bridgette became the first female Bassist (string & electric) in Marine Corps history to serve. During her enlistment, she became recognized as the 'Voice of Marine Band San Diego' and the public liaison between the media, public and high ranking military officials. During this time, she continued developing her abilities off stage and in the field as a Marine by obtaining many awards and honors for conduct, knowledge, expert weapons handling (M16-A2 Service Rifle) and Marine Combat Training (MCT). She quickly advanced ranks to Sergeant of Marines to take over Public Relations, historical photography & Marketing/ Branding of Marine Band San Diego. After tearing ligaments in her hand during enlistment, Bridgette found herself lost as her whole life had been centered on performing as a musician. Undeterred, and after being encouraged to get into Voice Over and Film/Television acting by so many seeing her perform, Bridgette took voice-over and commercial acting classes with Dru Scott, professional Voice-Over Actress and studied privately with Larry Goodman, The Larry Goodman Actors Studio. Through the Fusion Method of Acting, Bridgette discovered that regardless of the instrument, her passion was in Performance Art and moving her audience by what she did on stage. She found her niche again with an instrument she was born with. During 5 years in the corporate world, she has performed in regional commercials and small productions in San Diego and is now pursuing her career full-time in Hollywood as a Professional Actor having completed her transition from Professional Musician. French, & Spanish so she can meld into different ethnicity as needed on screen. Bridgette Etienne is also an active member of Combat Casting- Real former military for movies.