Educator

Over the last decade Ted has set himself apart as one of the most in demand and proven educators in the NY/NJ area as well as across the United States and abroad. Ted has a passion for sharing the power that jazz can have in a student’s life. Ted currently holds the position of Lecturer of Jazz Trumpet at Princeton University as well as leads a small ensemble. In addition he keeps an active private teaching studio both in person and online.

Educator

Education has long been central to Chubb’s work as a musician. From 2012 to 2020, he served as Director of Music at Jazz House Kids in Montclair, New Jersey, and from 2020 to 2024 as Vice President of Jazz Education and Associate Producer. During that time, the organization expanded dramatically in scale and visibility, evolving from a regional nonprofit into one of the most prominent pre-college jazz education institutions in the country. Chubb oversaw more than 100 faculty members and a team of arts administrators while helping guide educational programming across Montclair, Manhattan, and more than fifteen in-school programs serving over 2,000 students each year. He had previously served as a teaching artist in the organization’s weekly public school residency programs in Newark for three years and spent a decade as an in-house faculty member teaching small ensembles, improvisation classes, and adult ensembles.

His work extended well beyond classroom instruction. Chubb helped shape the artistic and educational direction of the organization’s major public initiatives, curating and producing performances and events including the Montclair Jazz Festival, Inside the Jazz Note, the Hang at Home web series with Christian McBride, the Jazz at One concert series at Trinity Church in New York, and the Ralph Pucci International Jazz Set. These programs connected young musicians directly with major artists and audiences while reinforcing the role of jazz as a living cultural tradition.

Under his leadership, the Jazz House Kids Big Band gained national recognition, placing second at the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition at Jazz at Lincoln Center in two consecutive years and earning honors at competitions including the Charles Mingus Competition and the Next Generation Jazz Festival.

During the same period, Chubb directed the Jazz House Summer Workshop, a two-week immersive program bringing together 160 students, faculty, and guest artists from across the United States and abroad for intensive study and performance. Earlier in his educational career he also served as band director for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Middle School Academy.

His work also emphasized international collaboration and cultural exchange. Through partnerships with organizations such as Tomorrow’s Warriors in London and programs supported by the U.S. Embassy in Peru, Chubb helped lead educational tours and exchanges that connected young musicians across borders while expanding the reach of the program. He has also adjudicated the New Jersey State Jazz Ensemble finals and presented masterclasses at institutions including Oberlin Conservatory, the University of Michigan, Indiana University, Iowa State University, the University of Northern Iowa, California State University North Bay, and the Conservatory of Lima in Peru.

“When you’re a really good educator,” he has observed, “a lot of times you get pushed into being an administrator.” His leadership roles grew out of that trust. While no longer administering a large institution, he continues to consult with Jazz House Kids and the New York City Department of Education in coordination with the estate of Max Roach, helping develop curriculum centered on Roach’s socially engaged music for schools across New York City.

Chubb also teaches jazz trumpet at Princeton University, where he serves as Lecturer in Music and directs small ensembles while maintaining an active private teaching studio. Drawing on the breathing and “flow” concepts of his teacher William B. Fielder, as well as principles of body awareness and breath control, he encourages students to approach the trumpet vocally — to play phrases that breathe.

“There is improvised vocabulary and repertoire that you have to know to communicate with other musicians in a logical and meaningful way,” he says, emphasizing jazz as a language with its own grammar, history, and cultural context.

• Current Position

  • Princeton University, Lecturer in Music, Jazz Trumpet

  • Princeton University, Lecturer in Music, Small Ensemble

  • Private Lesson Studio In Person/Online

• Past

  • Jazz House Kids, VP of Education

  • Jazz House Kids, Director of Music

  • Jazz House Kids Summer Workshop, Director

  • Jazz House Kids, small group, large ensemble, in-school, and adult education faculty

  • Jazz at Lincoln Center, Middle School Academy Band Director

  • Newark Academy, Private Trumpet Instructor

Private Studio

Ted is a disciple of master trumpet teacher William B. Fielder and his concept of air “Flow”.  Some of Fielder’s former students include Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Terrell Stafford, and Sean Jones among many of today’s leading jazz trumpeters.   The concept taught to Ted by Fielder originates with the great orchestral trumpet players Adolph Herseth and Vince Chicowitz of the Chicago Symphony. In addition to William Fielder, Ted’s trumpet teachers include Dennis Reynolds, Pharez Whitted, Derrick Gardner, and Dwight Adams.

As a private instructor with over 17 yrs of experience Ted has taught students of all age ranges and levels, from beginners to high school students planning their auditions for college, to college students and adults.  He has a proven track record of students achieving results and college scholarships to the premier jazz programs across the United States.  He strongly believes in a one on one connection between the private instructor and student and how essential this bond is to the student’s growth and maturation process.

The following areas are covered in his private instruction.

• Air flow and proper body use and function while playing

  • Ted is a dedicated practitioner of Yoga and brings this practice of breathing techniques, body use, and mental focus of being in the moment as it applies to the trumpet as well as improvisation

• Developing a consistent practice habit and focus on brass fundamentals

  • Articulation

  • Developing a concept of sound

  • Air Flow

  • Endurance and Range

• Site reading

• Improvisation

  • Be-bop vocabulary

  • Chord, scale relationships, harmony

  • Transcription and practical use

  • Style and rhythm

• Understanding of the history and culture of jazz music and how that informs performance

• Repertoire

• Memorization techniques

For lesson scheduling and rates both in person and online please email me@tedchubb.com