Holding a First Class Masters from the Amsterdam Conservatoire, I worked as a bilingual receptionist at the British Council.
Returning to the UK I started a ten-year journey as a busy professional musician, building an international profile based at the heart of the capital.
Fully-qualified as a teacher I enjoyed 20 years in the education sector, firstly as Director of Music at a small, independent school, and latterly at executive director level for one of Europe's best-performing Specialist Music Schools. Responsible for every aspect of the musical offer, here I managed an exceptional staff team, and saw standards rise to the very highest echelon, to reach an unprecedented 100% Distinction rate for all external exams.
Graduating with a Ph.D. in Historical Musicology,
today I work as a freelance researcher, examiner and administrator.
I hold a coveted research position at Oxford University. Affiliated to the English Faculty, current projects include content development for a major new BBC Radio series, my own book on the seventeenth-century instrument-maker ‘Father Smith’, and tracking down the origins and ownership of one of the world's most valuable cellos.
PAUL STUBBINGS
Historical Musicologist
Current
Researcher | Wolfson College, University of Oxford
Alumni Officer | The Oxford Centre for Life-Writing, Oxford University
Independent Researcher | BBC Radio Three
Education
Ph.D. | Canterbury Christ Church University
Master's | The Amsterdam Conservatoire
Bachelor's | The University of Manchester
Recent research includes work for Dr Kate Kennedy’s BBC Radio 3 series ‘The Essay’:
Biographer Kate Kennedy unearths five forgotten objects that provide a key to recreating the lives of their owners and sounds of their past.
Episode 1: Napoleon’s Piano
Broadcast Mon 19 Jan 2026, 21:45 on BBC RADIO 3
A brief paper on Napoleon and Music,
and on the 1808 Érard piano used in this episode, is accessed here.
Episode 2: The Secret Book
Broadcast Tues 20 Jan 2026, 21:45 on BBC RADIO 3
Further details on the Secret Book, together with images, is found here.
Episode 3: The pianist’s finger stretcher
Broadcast Weds 21 Jan 2026, 21:45 on BBC RADIO 3
My paper on the Digitorium and the Dactylion is found here.
Episode 4: The Sutton Hoo Lyre
Broadcast Thurs 22 Jan 2026, 21:45 on BBC RADIO 3
A short paper on the work of Mary Remnant ('The woman who turned stained glass into music’) can be read here.
A brief introduction to the Sutton Hoo Lyre is accessed here.
Episode 5: A Quadrille from Waterloo’s battlefield, 1815
Broadcast Fri 23 Jan 2026, 21:45 on BBC RADIO 3
A paper on the Waterloo Quadrille can be read here.
The PDF score of my reconstruction of the Waterloo Quadrille, heard at the end of the programme performed by the Chilton Music Academy, can be found here.
Video footage of the recording can be viewed here.
Website: paulstubbings.org
Videos: paulstubbings7.wixsite.com/paul-stubbings
Academic: independent.academia.edu/pstubbings
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@paul_stubbings