Karjaka Magazine
July 2025

A few months back, KARJAKA had the opportunity to capture the brilliance that is the good Dr. Aubin in the studio and on the streets of Chelsea New York. When he’s not galavanting the sides streets of Chelsea in search of soft morning light with me, you’ll find him with one of his orchestras throughout the US, here in particularly The Chelsea Symphony where he’s the Conductor and Music Director, of which is about to celebrate it’s 20th Season. There’s is much to be said about this brilliant musician, especially over two days of lyrical conversations in front of the KARJAKA lens, that we thought we’d give you a peek behind the curtain with full pass access to the man, myth and musical legend that is Maestro Matthew Aubin.

Matthew, you’re conducting three different orchestras across multiple states. How do you manage this juggling act?

It’s less a juggling act and more of a carefully choreographed dance. Most people don’t realize that professional orchestras aren’t weekly rehearsal groups. We compress intense preparation into just three to four days before a performance. That actually makes my multi-orchestra life more manageable.

Take us through a typical week in your life.

It starts deceptively calm—coffee, New York Times crossword puzzle. But by mid-morning, I’m deep in musical preparation. Take Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, for example. I’ll spend hours deciding everything from phrase structures to which instrumental voice should lead a particular melody. It’s like being a musical detective, uncovering the hidden narratives in each score.