# Sonny Chua

Sonny Chua (2 November 1967 – 9 September 2020) was an Australian composer, pianist, and music educator. He taught at Melbourne High School and was Director of Music at the Mac.Robertson Girls' High School.

## Early life and education

Chua was born on 2 November 1967 in Penang, Malaysia. to Richard and Jenny Chua. The eldest of four children, he also lived in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Malacca, before the family immigrated to Melbourne, Australia.
Chua started piano lessons in Malacca at age eight, and continued his piano studies in Melbourne with Julie Zelman, who encouraged him to explore a range of modern music styles. It was at this point, that his creative journey began. He attended the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (VCASS), studying piano under Stephen McIntyre. He completed a Bachelor of Music degree at the Conservatorium of Music of the University of Melbourne, specialising in piano performance, with Ronald Farren-Price AO, Alexander Semetsky and Max Cooke; and also studied composition with Peter Tahourdin, Barry Cunningham and Brenton Broadstock.

## Career

From 2002 to 2007 Chua taught at Melbourne High School. Chua's contributions at Melbourne High School are of broader notability in light of his development of the Massed Singing culture and his direction of the Chorale, which serves as a model for use of singing as a developmental and educational tool.
He left Melbourne High School to become the Director of Music at the Mac.Robertson Girls' High School, a sister school whose musical activities were closely coordinated with Melbourne High School, including the annual winter concert. He was later the Coordinator of Keyboard Studies at Carey Baptist Grammar School, in Melbourne.

## Works

Sonny Chua composed a myriad of piano compositions. His music is listed in all Australian examination syllabuses and in competitions around the world. As an educationalist, Chua was regularly invited to present masterclasses and talks on piano technique and musicianship and he has spoken in music conferences including the International Society of Music Education world conferences in Malaysia and Brazil, and at the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conferences on piano teaching and composition.
Chua's music is characterised by its "playfulness with styles and musical techniques". His piece "Theme and 12 Deviations" exemplifies this playfulness, using the motif from Chopsticks (music) to highlight musical features of major eras of music.
Alongside his contributions to classical piano, Chua composed works at a variety of difficulty levels for use in the Australian Music Examinations Board examinations system. His music has proved popular among the variety of qualifying pieces, and was featured in the winning performance for the 2016 Foster's Music Award - awarded to the top music examinee in North-West Tasmania.

### Solo Piano Music

| No. | Composition |
| v1.01 | 2-finger piece — solo piano |
| v1.02 | Cockroach stomp — solo piano |
| v1.03 | Cuckoo fairy — solo piano |
| v1.04 | It wasn't me — solo piano |
| v1.05 | Jive turkey — solo piano |
| v1.06 | Lonely fairy — solo piano |
| v1.07 | Out of my way — solo piano |
| v1.08 | T-rex awake (1993) — solo piano |
| v1.09 | Two finger piece — solo piano |
| v1.10 | Waltz it all about II — solo piano |
| v1.11 | Waltz it all about I — solo piano |
| v2.01 | Dizzy fairy — solo piano |
| v2.02 | Dog awake — solo piano |
| v2.03 | Dog hungry — solo piano |
| v2.04 | Dripping fairy — solo piano |
| v2.05 | Funky fairy — solo piano |
| v2.06 | T-rex asleep (1993) — solo piano |
| v2.07 | Twinkling fairy — solo piano |
| v2.08 | Waltz it all about V — solo piano |
| v2.09 | Zeitgeist 4 — solo piano |
| v3.01 | Bedtime stomp — solo piano |
| v3.02 | Flapping fairy — solo piano |
| v3.03 | Hot and sassy — solo piano |
| v3.04 | Lonesome blues — solo piano |
| v3.05 | Waltz it all about VIII — solo piano |
| v3.06 | Waltz it all about VI — solo piano |
| v3.07 | Zeitgeist 22 — solo piano |
| v3.08 | Zeitgeist 7 — solo piano |
| v3.09 | Zeitgeist 8 — solo piano |
| v4.01 | Jig is up — solo piano |
| v4.02 | Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair — solo piano |
| v4.03 | Siesta (1997) — solo piano |
| v4.04 | Sonatina (1998) — solo piano This edition: 1998 |
| v4.05 | Struttin' it around (2003) — solo piano This edition: 2003 |
| v.4.06 | Transylvanian romp (1997) — solo piano |
| v.4.07 | Twirling fairy — solo piano |

## Death

Chua died on 9 September 2020 following a stroke.