Matthew
Aubin, Doctor of Musical Arts (2010) and Masters (2006) in Music Education both
with a conducting emphasis, is currently living in Jackson,
Michigan.
What have you been up to
since you graduated from Hartt?
In 2006, after completing my Masters, I applied for the DMA program and was
offered a fellowship. I accepted this
offer, and left my teaching position at The Norwich Free Academy. In addition
to my core course work in music education and wind conducting with Glen Adsit,
I took the opportunity as a full-time student to play the French horn again and
explore orchestral conducting. I worked
very hard to get my horn chops back into shape and performed with the top
instrumental ensembles at The Hartt School. Additionally, I supplemented my conducting
study with Glen by taking score reading courses with Larry Alan Smith and
participated in the orchestral conducting seminar with Chris Zimmerman. These experiences along with some outside
conducting workshops and extracurricular study led to a variety of
opportunities.
After
achieving ABD status in 2008, Hartt kept me on as an adjunct faculty member. Glen asked me to conduct the Symphony Band,
Foot in the Door and the Pep Band. I
also taught several undergraduate courses. I began to make connections with many of the
local professional orchestras and freelanced often on horn in Connecticut. It was during this period that I was
contracted to design and conduct educational concerts with the Hartford
Symphony Orchestra. Concurrently, I
began to play with a new orchestra in New York City called The Chelsea
Symphony. In 2010, I successfully
auditioned to be one of that group’s conductors, eventually becoming Artistic
Director. After completing my doctorate
in 2010, I continued as an adjunct faculty member at Hartt and was a candidate
for two local community orchestra music director positions.
The
day I learned that I was selected to be the Connecticut Valley Chamber
Orchestra’s Music Director was the same day that I learned I had successfully
won the position of Assistant Professor of Music at Washington State University
(orchestra conductor and studio horn). My
wife and I discussed the situation and decided that it was a good career move
for me to accept the job offer in Washington even though she had 4 more years
of training in orthopedic surgery at the University of Massachusetts in
Worcester where we were living at the time. For the next 4 years I traveled across the
country regularly, conducting The Chelsea Symphony in NYC, teaching at WSU and
managing to visit my wife in Massachusetts. The students at WSU were fantastic and both
the orchestra and horn studio improved a great deal while I was there. At WSU, I performed in faculty ensembles and
performed with many professional orchestras including the Spokane Symphony
Orchestra and Walla Walla Symphony. However,
the travel was exhausting and as my wife finished fellowship and was looking
for jobs we decided that we could no longer live apart.
We
discussed our situation and made the decision for her to take a job in Jackson,
Michigan as a hand surgeon and for me to leave WSU. The Jackson position was a dream job for my
wife. For me, The Chelsea Symphony was
demanding more of my attention as it grew from a modest start-up to a more
mature organization. Leaving WSU allowed
me to devote more time to The Chelsea Symphony and to finally live with my wife
again.
What are you involved with
right now?
Today
we reside in Jackson and I commute to NYC about 2 times per month. The Chelsea Symphony is celebrating its 10th
anniversary this season. The orchestra is unique in that we provide
professional development opportunities for our members by featuring them as
conductors, composers and soloists. This
season we are celebrating our anniversary by performing at some different
venues such as Merkin Hall and the DiMenna Center. We are performing the music of some fantastic
contemporary composers like Caroline Shaw, Michael Daugherty and Gerard
Schwarz. The orchestra is continuing to
play a role as background musicians and coaches for the Amazon television
series Mozart in the Jungle. I consult
for the series and contract many of the musicians that appear on camera.
While
at WSU I began researching the composer, Fernande Breilh-Decruck. She is a French, female composer from the
first part of the 20th century who is primarily known as the composer of
several important classical saxophone works.
I won a number of research grants for this work and in my travels to
France I have discovered many manuscripts that were written for and performed
by many of the top performers and ensembles in France in the 1930’s and 1940’s.
For the past few years, I’ve worked to disseminate this music to performers and
provide more information about her through a website that I’ve created (www.fernandedecruck.com).
Additionally,
I am continuing to be an active horn player and have performed with the
Traverse City Symphony and the Jackson Symphony Orchestra. Both ensembles
are exceptional regional orchestras.
What is one of your most
memorable things about your time at Hartt?
It
was extremely rewarding to prepare for our tours and to create our recordings
for Naxos. Glen was very gracious about giving me opportunities to conduct
(tours) and produce (recordings) and I will never forget those experiences.
The wind ensemble performance at Hill Auditorium and Foot in the Door’s
performance at Benaroya Hall were both the culmination of many months of hard
work. In 2008 we toured Germany and
Austria with the Greater Hartford Youth Wind Ensemble and I still remember
standing on the rostrum at the Musikverein listening to the resonance last
forever. I remember sitting in the sound
booth with Steve Gryc as we recorded his trombone concerto with Joe Alessi. As I look back, I recognize the value of
breaking out of our daily routine with projects such as these. They heightened everyone's musical standards,
exposed the musicians to new experiences but most importantly brought the
members of the ensemble together. I
appreciate the support of the university in these opportunities and especially
the support, motivation and mentorship of Glen Adsit.
What did you learn during
while at Hartt that you did not appreciate or recognize until after time passed
and you had some time to reflect?
