Steve Newcomb

Stephen Newcomb (born August 2, 1976) is an Australian pianist, composer, and arranger who has worked and recorded with classical, jazz, and pop musicians. He is most known for his arranging of orchestration work for symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles with longtime collaborator Katie Noonan. Their collaboration on Elixir (Australian band) album First Seed Ripening won ARIA Award for Best Jazz Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2011, and follow up album Gratitude and Grief with cartoonist Michael Leunig received nomination for Best Jazz Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2018. Their collaboration on the album Fierce Hearts, produced as the soundtrack to contemporary circus Circa (contemporary circus) show Love-Song-Circus received nomination for Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2014. His work has earned recognition in the Australian Jazz Bell Awards, including 2016 dual nominations with Angela Davis (musician) for Lady Luck (which Newcomb arranged), and winning Best Australian Jazz Vocal Album with Kristin Berardi for Where or When (on which Newcomb was pianist). 
== Biography ==
=== Early years and education ===
Newcomb was born on the Gold Coast, Australia and began studying piano at age 5 with his mother Jennifer Newcomb. He completed a Bachelor of Music (Honours) at Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University majoring on trombone where he studied with Arthur Middleton. During his undergraduate degree he took on a second study in jazz piano.
Newcomb attended Manhattan School of Music, where he studied jazz piano and improvisation with Kenny Barron, Garry Dial, Dave Liebman, and arranging with Mike Abene and Manny Albam, earning a Master of Music in 2001. He settled in Brisbane to take up a position at Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University where he is currently head of jazz and senior lecturer in jazz piano, jazz ensembles, and arranging. Newcomb returned to Manhattan School of Music in 2009 to undertake a Doctor of Musical Arts degree under the tutelage of Jim McNeely, and Phil Markowitz.
=== Career ===
In 2011 he attended the Metropole Orkest Arrangers Workshop where the guest soloist was Roberta Gambarini. He then contributed arrangements for the Metropole Orchestra and Dutch artist Alain Clark, released as Alain Clark Live With the Metropole Orchestra. Newcomb took part in the Orchestra's Tweetphony, a world first as protest against planned cutbacks in public broadcasting within the Netherlands. He was the recipient of an award via the Dame Joan Sutherland Fund in 2011, through the American Australian Association. Newcomb was a finalist for the APRA Professional Development Award in 2013.
He is a founding co-leader of the Brisbane based West End Composers Collective which he led with trumpeter Laura Kahle from 2003, and later with saxophonist Rafael Karlen. This 10-piece jazz ensemble toured Australia twice and has released two studio albums, Downstream, and Driving Hat. He is also one of the founding pianists who took part in the Piano Mill project, and in 2019 was commissioned to write "Astronauts Aviary Antics" for this unique site-specific performance instrument. 
== Compositions and projects ==
=== Big Band/Jazz ensemble ===
* 2011 Caterpillar Chronicles
* 2014 Catch of the Day
* 2015 Peace in Stillness
* 2018 Various songs for Vince Jones and Megan Washington
=== Small ensemble ===
*2012 The Family Law, for Southern Cross Soloists with Benjamin Law (writer)
*2012 To Walk
*2013 Antihero Suite
*2015 Kicking Gaols
*2017 Suspended Belief
* 2019 Astronauts Aviary Antics, for The Piano Mill
=== Arrangements and orchestrations ===
* 2004 "Lush Life" and "Poor Butterfly" on Katie Noonan's album Two of a Kind (Katie and Maggie Noonan album)
* 2005 "Boxing" and "Evaporated" on Ben Folds and WASO Live in Perth
*2009 "Angel", "Strangers", and "Wist" for Paul Grabowsky, Katie Noonan and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
*2010 Various songs on Katie Noonan's album Emperor's Box
*2011 Various songs on Elixir (Australian band). Katie Noonan's album First Seed Ripening
*2011 "My One and Only Love" and "Yarn" on Kristin Berardi's album Kristin Berardi Meets The Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra
*2015 Various songs for Jef Neve and The Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra
== Discography ==
=== As arranger/orchestrator ===
*Katie Noonan – Two of a Kind (ABC Music, 2004)
*Ben Folds – Ben Folds and WASO Live In Perth with West Australian Symphony Orchestra (Sony, 2005)
* Katie Noonan – Emperor's Box (Sony Music Australia, 2010)
* Elixir (Australian band). Katie Noonan – First Seed Ripening (ABC Music, 2011)
*Alain Clark – Live With the Metropole Orchestra (8ball Music, 2011)
* Katie Noonan – Fierce Hearts (KIN MUSIC, 2014)
*Angela Davis (musician) – Lady Luck (Angela Davis, 2015)
*Elixir (Australian band). Katie Noonan – Gratitude and Grief (KIN MUSIC, 2018)
=== As arranger and conductor ===
* Chris McNulty – Eternal (Palmetto, 2015)
=== As composer ===
* Steve Newcomb & Alistair Noble – Music of the Piano Mill 2019 (Harrigans Lane Collective, 2020)
=== As leader/co-leader ===
* Steve Newcomb Orchestra – Caterpillar Chronicles (Listen Hear, 2013)
*VNMG – Down Homeless (PG Records, 2002)
=== As sideperson ===
* Manhattan School Of Music Jazz Orchestra – Contemporary Jazz Composition (MSM, 2005)
*James Whiting – Burbank (Independant, 2011)
* Kavita Shah – Visions (Inner Circle Music, 2014), co-produced by Lionel Loueke
*Kristin Berardi – Where or When (ABC Music, 2015)
==In the media==
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Category:1976 births
Category:Australian pianists
Category:Australian composers
Category:Australian music arrangers
Category:People from the Gold Coast, Queensland