Short Bio:
ANDREW CHUBB is Australia’s pioneer when it comes to the performance of Philip Glass piano music. Since 2003, he has given numerous all-Glass recitals at various cities in Australia and during recital tours to Canada in 2008 and 2013. His interest in promoting contemporary repertoire has included Australian premiere performances. In particular, he gave the first Australian performance in 2007 of Otte’s epic 80-minute, ‘The Book of Sounds’, on the Australian made Stuart & Sons piano at Newcastle Conservatorium. Andrew Chubb is a recognised composer with radio broadcasts of his work through Australia’s National Broadcaster, ABC Classic FM. He is also a passionate piano teacher successfully developing a number of early to advanced level students in Newcastle and Sydney.
Long Bio:
ANDREW CHUBB is an Australian pianist, composer, conductor and teacher currently living and working in the coastal city of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. For the past decade as a pianist, his concert programs have consisted of a diverse range of repertoire from the works of Mozart and Beethoven through to compositions of today. Chubb's recital programs often deliberately include works of modern composers – some which are relatively unknown to most audiences. He has been passionate to promote such music – bringing new life to compositions that are for whatever reason, neglected in the main concert repertoire.
As strange as it may seem, the now hugely popular piano music of Philip Glass was scarcely performed in Australia over a decade ago with the exception of when performed by Glass himself during his occasional tours to Australia. In 2003, Chubb commenced a series of all-Glass piano recitals in Australia. These performances were well received by Australian audiences and by 2007; he was the first and only Australian pianist to have performed the main cycle of Glass piano works. These performances include the 2006 Australian premiere of 'The Hours'. During this period he also made a noted Australian premiere of, 'The Book of Sounds', by the German composer Hans Otte. Chubb gave the performance of this epic 80-minute composition on the Australian built Stuart and Sons piano at the Newcastle Conservatorium of Music. More recently in 2011, Chubb gave an Australian premiere of another German work, the 'Sonata No.7' by Heinz Chur and recently premiered this piece along with Andrew Shapiro's 'Mint Green' to Canadian audiences during his recital tour of Canada in early 2013. His piano recordings of Shapiro's work have been used by the ABC in several episodes of the popular Australian TV program, 'Mad As Hell'. Chubb also appears on Shapiro’s album, 'The High Line & Other Places'.
Chubb's composition writing has increased over the past 15 years with his first published work (Publications by Wirripang), 'Motion One', for solo piano (1998), marking an important step into his minimalist based style. This piano work has since been adapted for solo marimba and then choreographed by Sergei Vanaev for the ballet, 'Motion One', performed in 2009 by the Bremerhaven Ballet with marimbist, Tomoyo Ueda. The influence of Steve Reich, Arvo Pärt, Hans Otte is quite evident in a number of Chubb’s works prior to 2010. 'Meditation at Bar Beach' for piano solo (2007), was written, in part, as a collaborative project with Australian photographer, Allan Chawner, in their multi-media work, 'Bar Beach (Beyond the Sea)'. This piece displays many distinctive elements of Pärt’s idiom and has been exhibited and performed both in Australia and Canada. More recent works from 2011 onwards, such as 'Chaconne' for piano trio and 'Glass’s Hour' for solo piano, openly use some of the characteristic techniques of Philip Glass. The latter piano work was written in celebration of Glass in his 75th birthday year. A number of new works were completed in 2014 including commissions for the Sydney ensemble, ‘Strelitzia’, French pianist Nicolas Horvath and the Manning Winter Festival. In January 2015, ABC Classic FM broadcast two of Chubb's chamber works; 'Chaconne' (piano trio) and 'Berceuse' (cello and piano), which had been recorded in 2014 at the ABC Eugene Goossens Hall in Sydney.
Chubb's other work includes a busy teaching schedule in his home city of Newcastle where he operates a piano studio and continues to teach at the Newcastle Conservatorium of Music, University of Newcastle. He also partakes in examination and adjudication activities along with giving open pedagogical piano classes. Through Chubb's teaching, many students of various levels from beginner to Licentiate Diploma, have achieved considerable success in developing important musical, technical and self-critiquing skills associated with a deeper understanding and passion for all classical music genres. Many of his students have been highly successful in competitions and eisteddfods throughout Sydney and NSW as well as AMEB and HSC music examinations. Recently, three of his former students studied tertiary level music at Monash University, Brisbane Conservatorium, Melbourne University and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Chubb graduated from Newcastle Conservatorium, University of Newcastle in 1998 with a Double Major Bachelor Degree in piano and viola (Carmel Lutton OAM and Dr Deborah Lander his teachers) and then in 2000 with an Honours Degree in piano performance and research (Mozart’s Piano 'Fantasias'). During his Bachelor degree, he studied composition in classes lectured by Christian Hiem and Dr Nigel Butterley AM.