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

Mac.Robertson Girls' High School , motto_translation = Mastery of self , established = , type = Government-funded single-sex selective secondary day school , principal = Sue Harrap , location = South Melbourne, Victoria , country = Australia , coordi ...

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 Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (VCASS), is a government-funded co-educational selective and specialist secondary day school, with speciality in the performing and visual arts, located within the Melbourne Arts Precinct in S ...

(VCASS), studying piano under

Stephen McIntyre Stephen McIntyre (born c. 1947) is a Canadian mining exploration company director, a former minerals prospector and semi-retired mining consultant whose work has included statistical analysis. He is best known as the founder and editor of Clima ...

. He completed a Bachelor of Music degree at University of Melbourne, Conservatorium of Music, specialising in piano performance, with Ronald Farren-Price AO, Alexander Semestky and Max Cooke; and also studied composition with Peter Tahourdin, Barry Cunningham and

Brenton Broadstock Brenton Thomas Broadstock (born 1952) is an Australian composer. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia on Australia Day in 2014 for "significant service to music as a composer, educator and mentor". Biography Broadstock was b ...

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

, 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 Carey Baptist Grammar School, commonly known as Carey, is an Independent school, independent and co-educational, Baptists, Baptist day school in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The institution consists of five campuses: Kew, Victoria, ...

, 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) "Chopsticks" (original name "The Celebrated Chop Waltz") is a simple, widely known waltz for the piano. Written in 1877, it is the only published piece by the British composer Euphemia Allen (under the pen name Arthur de Lulli). Allen—whose bro ...

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 The Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) is a federated, privately funded corporation which provides a program of examinations for music, speech and drama in Australia. The organisation had its beginnings at the Universities of Melbourne ...

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.

Death

Chua died on 9 September 2020 following a stroke.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chua, Sonny 1967 births 2020 deaths Australian composers Malaysian emigrants to Australia Musicians from Penang