Matthew Aubin
Conductor
Biography
A passionate musical director, American conductor Matthew Aubin embodies a modern and inclusive vision of classical music, combining artistic excellence, openness, and innovation.
He currently serves as Music and Artistic Director of the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, and the Chelsea Symphony (CS) in New York.
Widely recognized as a leading specialist on French composer Fernande Breilh-Decruck, Aubin has devoted much of his research and career to bringing her music back to life. The recipient of several grants, he has published critical editions with Gérard Billaudot and recorded two landmark albums with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra: the first released in 2022 on Claves, and the second in 2024, acclaimed by the international press. A strong advocate for women composers, he is committed to reviving neglected musical legacies.
On the New York scene, Aubin has collaborated with John Lithgow, the Golden Globe-winning series Mozart in the Jungle, and the American Museum of Natural History. He conducted the Chelsea Symphony from its earliest seasons at Lincoln Center and has been instrumental in developing its annual composition competition, premiering works by Mark O’Connor, Fazil Say, and Caroline Shaw.
At the helm of the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, Aubin has transformed the ensemble’s identity and visibility on both regional and national levels. He has collaborated with world-renowned soloists such as Pascal Rogé, Julian Schwarz, Jeremy Crosmer, and Lowell Liebermann. Under his leadership, the orchestra has expanded its season and reached new audiences through family programs, educational concerts, and the Music on Tap series. During the 2020 pandemic, he launched innovative digital initiatives, including Random Acts of Music.
His career also extends to film and television: as consultant and off-screen conductor for Mozart in the Jungle (Amazon Prime), he designed and led concerts at Rikers Island, both digitally and live. He conducted the film Bel Canto starring Julianne Moore, and served as artistic consultant for the TV series Younger.
Still active as a horn player, Aubin performs regularly across the United States. A dedicated pedagogue, he has taught at Washington State University (2011–2015), the Hartt School (2008–2011), and directed educational programs at the Hartford Symphony Orchestra (2009–2011).
Management: Europe
Press
Fernande Decruck: Concert Works, Vol. 2 Crosmer, Kubo, Esfahani, Aubin.
“We must cross the Atlantic in the time of the sad Trump and reach the deep Michigan of Jackson in order to recognize the knowledge and erudition of Matthew Aubin, who reawakens the prematurely interrupted and now forgotten life of Fernande Breilh-Decruck (1896-1954), to rediscover a figure of the French interwar period to whom Olivier Messiaen paid homage when he dedicated “Songs of Earth and Sky” (1938) to her “with all the gratitude and moving memory of the author.”
(…)Throughout this recording, we will appreciate the commitment and fervor of Matthew Aubin, the Jackson Symphony Orchestra and its soloists, who thus contribute, with all their merits, to offering Fernande Decruck the laurels allowing her to inscribe her name on their deserved crown more lastingly than on the fallible rose petals to which many female composers are confined.
(Jacques-Philippe Saint-Gerand) TUNING FORK OF JUNE 2025
Fernande Decruck: Concert Works, Vol. 2. Jeremy Crosmer (cello), Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord), Mitsuru Kubo (vola), Jackson Symphony Orchestra, Matthew Aubin. Claves Records
“Fernande Decruck (1896–1954) is one of the most overlooked composers of the 20th century, yet her works display an astonishing independence of tone and expression. From Paris, she moved to New York. In 1937, she returned to Toulouse with her three children. After the war, she divorced and worked at the Conservatoire de Fontainebleau. Their music represents a unique blend of Old and New World, associated with the neoclassicism of the period: brilliant in the Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (1932), with exotic sonorities in “Les Trianons” for harpsichord and orchestra (1946), with beautifully developed dark lines in the Sonata for Saxophone and Orchestra (1943, performed here with warmth and emotion on the viola), or with lighter textures à la Saint-Saëns in the waltz suite “Les Clochers de Vienne” (1935). The concertos, in particular, are powerful scores and demonstrate an original musical language.”
[Michael Kube] NMZ ( Neue Musikzeitung)
American conductor Matthew Aubin, Music Director of the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, has become passionate about this composer, offering her world premiere recordings. Thus, the second volume of Fernande Decruck’s concert works is now released on the Swiss label Claves.
(…)Let us salute the work of Matthew Aubin and the Jackson Symphony Orchestra in rescuing this endearing artist from oblivion. A tribute from our American cousins to French chic.