Rate My Professor Johannes Luebbers

Dr Johannes Luebbers is a lecturer in Performance (Jazz & Improvisation) and Convenor of Composition and Music Technology at Monash University’s Faculty of Arts, Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance. He coordinates units including Composition and Music Technology 1-6, Music Theory and Ear Training 1-4, and Jazz History. Luebbers holds a PhD from Edith Cowan University (2021), titled “Cheek to cheek: Transforming a compositional practice through collaboration,” and a BMus (Honours) from the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) (2006), with thesis “Transforming Messiaen: The Application of Elements of the Musical Language of Olivier Messiaen to the Contemporary Jazz Orchestra.” His career includes teaching at WAAPA (2007-2014), the Australian National University School of Music (2015), and Monash since 2016.

As director of the Johannes Luebbers Dectet (JLD), he has released four albums and won two Australian Jazz Bell Awards, an APRA/AMC Art Music Award, two West Australian Music Industry Awards, and an APRA Professional Development Award. Other honors include the 2020 Faculty of Arts Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning and 2009 Youth Arts West Australian Citizen of the Year. Commissions come from Decibel new music ensemble, oboist Ben Opie, WA Youth Jazz Orchestra, and WA Youth Orchestra. He composed the musical theatre work Melba, premiered 2017 at Hayes Theatre starring Emma Matthews, and has arranged for Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, and others. Research focuses on collaboration in composition, genre signification in contemporary jazz, musical theatre, music theory, and ear training. Key publications: “Teaching jazz history: disrupting gendered narratives” (Frontiers in Education, 2024, co-authored); “Expanding models of music composition: exploring the value of collaboration” (International Journal of Music Education, 2023, co-authored); “Innovating models of jazz composition: Exploring signification as a tool for collaboration” (2018, co-authored). His work influences Australian jazz through education, performance, and innovation.