Jeff Grubbs

Jeffrey Grubbs joined the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1996 after playing in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra.

Grubbs, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, received his musical training at Youngstown State University, The Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Southern California and is a student of Lawrence Angell, Paul Ellison, Ralph Jones, Anthony Knight and Tony Leonardi.

He started as a violinist at the age of 9 and later switched to the double bass at age 18. With this late start, Grubbs gained a great deal of experience as a student by working very diligently and becoming very active in the Northeast Ohio‑area music community performing with many of the symphony orchestras in that region. While a student at USC, he won the position of orchestral fellow with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra through the Music Assistance Fund, now the Sphinx Organization, which gave him the opportunity to perform as a full-time member of that ensemble for two seasons.

In addition to his orchestral achievements, he is also an accomplished jazz bassist. In 1986, he won Downbeat Magazine’s “Dee Bee” award for Best Collegiate Bass Soloist from a submittal of a recording of his work with the Youngstown State University Jazz Ensemble. He has performed and recorded with many touring internationally known jazz artists, including Nat Adderly, Kenny Burrell, Joe Lovano, Diane Schur, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Ira Sullivan and Joe Williams. Grubbs is currently quite active performing in the Pittsburgh jazz community.

Grubbs has served as a faculty member of Carnegie Mellon University, Florida International University, Clark-Atlanta University, the University of Pittsburgh, the Brevard Music School and Slippery Rock University. He also served as associate professor of jazz double bass at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign and is currently serving as adjunct professor of string bass at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Grubbs enjoys living in the City of Pittsburgh with his wife, Tania, and their three children.