About
Golden Gate Brass is an ensemble of charismatic musicians that have built a reputation of bringing high quality performances of brass music to its audiences. Its founding members are Michael Olsen & Fletcher Cox (trumpets), Aidan Gabriels (horn), Jackson Bankovic (trombone) and Jason Catchpowle (tuba); each in-demand performers within the Australian classical music scene, having collectively appeared on the main stage with every full-time orchestra in the country. Despite maintaining impressive individual careers as performers and educators across Australia and around the world, they combine forces to create an electrifying atmosphere when they perform as Golden Gate Brass.
What began as a passion project amongst friends in 2017 at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), Golden Gate Brass has established itself as one of the most exciting brass groups in Australia. With energy, mateship and charisma being at the core of ensemble’s personality, every Golden Gate Brass performance leaves audiences invigorated, engaged and wanting more. This has seen the ensemble working alongside organisations such as ANAM, Musica Viva, the Canberra International Music Festival, Four Winds and the Australian Youth Orchestra to present high quality concert programs in venues all across Australia.
Community outreach and education are an important part of the Golden Gate Brass mission, and has seen the ensemble regularly present educational and community outreach programs to the masses, including its first public engagement as an ensemble through ANAM’s Schools Program. Since then, Golden Gate Brass has undertaken additional residencies with Four Winds and the University of Western Australia to present educational shows to local students and communities. Part of this outreach includes taking brass music to the regional areas outside the big cities, with two of five founding members hailing from regional areas within their home states. The ensemble has worked with Musica Viva as part of the Regional Touring program to bring concerts and outreach programs to regional areas in Australia, allowing them to reach an audience that would otherwise not be regularly exposed to brass music.
Collaboration lies at the heart of music making, which is a value that Golden Gate Brass have managed to uphold through their work with various musical organisations. This has seen the group commission new works for brass quintet by Australian composers, including Alex Turley’s ‘Cloudscapes’, as well as produce multiple arrangements of other works, including from our very own Jackson Bankovic. Golden Gate Brass also enjoy presenting programs alongside other ensembles to create new and unexpected performances that otherwise wouldn’t be seen in a regular setting. Past collaborations have included the Partridge String Quartet, Ad Lib Collective and the Corelia Quintet.
With the star of Golden Gate Brass only continuing to rise, there are always exciting developments to come. The ensemble is continuing to develop more programs and performances in more states around the country. Be on the look out for a ‘GGB’ concert in your town.
We hope to see you soon!
