Dr Andrew Butt is the Head of Music at Marist College Ashgrove and a casual academic at The University of Queensland. His portfolio career includes professional practice as an educator, performer, composer and producer. Over the last 25 years Andrew has been prominent on the Australian music scene as a multi finalist and winner of the Queensland Music Awards, a recipient of a Churchill Fellowship and performing as a soloist with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. He leads Andrew Butt Trio +, an ensemble that has featured at major festivals, venues and radio across Australia and internationally including regular airplay on Australia's national broadcaster the ABC. In 2011 Andrew was awarded a Special Commendation award at the Australian Society of Music Educators (ASME) National Conference by the Hon Peter Garrett AM for his contribution to Music Education. His research interests include artistic research through live performance, identity, culture and music education.
Researcher biography
Dr Andrew Butt is a jazz saxophonist, composer, researcher and educator whose work explores the relationship between improvisation, collaboration, culture and artistic identity. His research combines professional performance with artistic inquiry to investigate how place, community and collaborative practice shape creative outcomes, with a particular focus on Australian jazz and the distinctive musical culture of Queensland.
A Churchill Fellow and multiple Queensland Music Award winner, Butt has performed throughout Australia and internationally at leading jazz venues and festivals including Le Baiser Salé (Paris), Sunset-Sunside (Paris), iF Jazz Café (Budapest), U Malého Glena (Prague), Bennetts Lane Jazz Club (Melbourne) and the Brisbane International Jazz Festival. His recordings have received national and international critical acclaim, including four-star reviews from All About Jazz, and his work has been featured on ABC Jazz, Fine Music Sydney and other national broadcasts.
His research sits at the intersection of music performance, artistic research and cultural studies. Through live performance, performance analysis, interviews and reflective practice, he investigates how improvisation develops within collaborative environments and how local musical communities contribute to artistic identity and creativity. His doctoral research documented the evolution of Queensland jazz culture and its influence on performance practice, providing one of the first scholarly examinations of the state's jazz community.
Alongside his research, Butt has held senior leadership roles in music education and continues to work extensively with emerging musicians through tertiary teaching, schools, festivals and professional performance. He is committed to strengthening Australia's jazz community through research, performance, education and artistic collaboration.