Musical Director

Luke Bradbery, BMUS

Luke commenced learning cornet at the age of 7 with Maitland City Brass Band. He progressed through AMEB exams and lessons at the Conservatorium, also experiencing performances with Newcastle Conservatorium Youth Orchestra and Newcastle Wind Orchestra. From the age of 15 he played in pit orchestras for several musical companies across the Hunter, by the age of 18 he had played in approximately 40 musical productions.

At the age of 17, with a large amount of community performances in various ensembles, Luke was awarded the prestigious award of Young Musician of the Year by the Hunter Region Band Association. The award was proudly presented to Luke by Allan Shaw.

Luke continued his musical development at Newcastle Conservatorium under John Kellaway, and completed a Bachelor of Music at Newcastle University before successfully auditioning for the Royal Australian Navy Band. He travelled and performed extensively with the RAN Band, performing with some amazing world class musicians.

In 2005 Luke decided to pursue another passion in health and fitness, successfully transferring to the Physical Training category in the RAN where he completed intense training and various deployments and sea postings. During this time, he maintained his musical abilities and fulfilled his musical needs by playing in Victorian brass bands such as Brunswick Moreland and Footscray Yarraville.

In 2010 Luke left the RAN and ventured back to Newcastle to be with family. He returned to his friends at Maitland City Brass Band as principal cornet. In 2015 Luke initially accepted the roll of Musical Director for Maitland as a temporary until the band filled the position. The band soon decided Luke should stay on as Musical Director where he remained until January 2020 when Luke decided a change was needed and successfully auditioned for the Musical Director’s position at Parramatta City Brass.

Luke was officially appointed Musical Director of CNL Brass 9th June 2021. He has many friends within the band and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the band and is passionate about the positive future of CNL Brass.