Born in 1979 in Bremen, he studied bioinformatics in Leipzig and  multimedia composition with Georg Hajdu and Manfred Stahnke  in Hamburg. During his studies, he worked as a musician and  composer in a variety of contexts. He also spent one year at ZKM  | Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe, working at its Institute for  Music and Acoustics. In 2018, he completed an artistic doctorate in multimedia composition at the High School of Music and  Theatre in Hamburg. He is Professor of Multimedia Composition  at the High School of Music and Theatre in Hamburg and artistic head of the Electronic Studio at the High School of Music in  Lübeck. In 2016, he was a guest professor at Folkwang University  of the Arts in Essen. He works primarily as a freelance composer.  Schubert’s work explores cross-genre interfaces between acoustic and electronic music. One of its most characteristic features  is the combination of musical styles such as hardcore, free jazz,  popular electronic music and techno with contemporary classical  concepts. He incorporates these influences from personal experience rather than through a primarily theoretical approach. In his  youth and early career, he was active in all of these genres, both  in bands and as a solo artist.  

Performance-based work is a major focus in Schubert’s output.  The use of the body in electronic music and the communication of additional content through gesture are key features of  his pieces, which seek to empower the performer and achieve  maximum intensity. The pursuit of high intensity in musical performance is a driving force in his work; he approaches it subjectively, and rarely in a purely conceptual manner. This also leads  him to question the boundaries between notated and improvised  music. Several of his works can be understood as highly structured improvisations.  

Since 2009, Schubert has focused on sensor-based gestural composition in both his artistic and research work. In this field, he  has contributed to international conferences and cooperated with  institutes worldwide. The combination of aesthetic, technical and  scientific aspects in this interdisciplinary approach has been very  well received. His technical training in computer science underpins his confident approach to technology in general and to sensors in particular.  

Apart from his work as a composer and solo musician, Schubert  is a founding member of Decoder Ensemble. He has contributed  as a musician, composer and programmer to projects associated  with Wiener Festwochen, Berlin State Opera, and SWR. He has  also curated the Ahornfelder Festival for contemporary electronic  music, runs the contemporary music label Ahornfelder, and is  an organising member of VAMH (Verband für Aktuelle Musik  Hamburg), the network behind the annual two-week blurred  edges festival. He has served on juries for conferences and competitions such as the SSSP Conference and Jeu de temps / Times  Play (JTTP), and was jury chair for ensemble and electronics at ICMC (International Computer Music Conference). He has also  given composition workshops in Mexico City and Stockholm,  among other places.  

He has received prizes, residencies and scholarships from ZKM,  the Giga-Hertz Prize, Bourges, ICMC, NIME, JTTP and the Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt. His work has been  commissioned notably by the NDR, International Music Institute  Darmstadt (IMD), Ensemble Resonanz, IRCAM, ZKM, hcmf//  — Huddersfield Festival, Hamburg Culture Foundation, piano  possibile and ensemble Intégrales, among others. His works have  been performed internationally by ensembles and performers  including Ensemble intercontemporain, Ictus, Nadar Ensemble, ensemble mosaik, Ensemble Nikel, Klangforum Wien and  Decoder Ensemble, and have been presented at venues and festivals including IRCAM, NIME Sydney, ICMC, ZKM, Summer  Courses for New Music in Darmstadt, NYU Steinhardt, Essl  Museum, Deutschlandfunk, SMC Porto, MDR, Wiener Festwochen, Rainy Days, ACHT BRÜCKEN, TU Berlin, Hamburger  Kunsthalle, Akousma Montréal, Hamburger Klangwerktage,  Electronic Music Midwest (EMM), and ARD Hörspieltage.  

Since 2019, Schubert’s work has increasingly turned toward postdigitality, virtuality and AI-based performance and installation.  His book Switching Worlds was published by Wolke Verlag, and  Wiki-Piano.Net received an Honorary Mention in Digital Musics  & Sound Art at Prix Ars Electronica 2019. His large-scale musictheatre project Eternal Dawn premiered at the Musica Festival in  Strasbourg in September 2025 and received its German premiere  at Kampnagel Hamburg in January 2026. 

Selected works: 151 Meter über dem Meer, theatre work /  performance (2007), Corylus Avellana, tape piece (2007), Der  Grenzübergang zwischen Norwegen und Turin for violin, clarinet, piano, percussion, trombone and electronics (2008), La  Digression fragmentée for guitar, flute, percussion and electronics (2008), A Set of Dots, audiovisual installation (2008), Some  forgotten Patterns, audiovisual installation (2008), Die Monster,  radio work (2008), Laplace Tiger for drum kit, arm sensors, live  electronics and live video (2009), Weapon of Choice for violin,  sensor, live electronics and live video (2009), Superimpose I for  saxophone, double bass, piano, percussion and electronics (2009),  Superimpose II “Night of the Living Dead” for saxophone, double  bass, piano, percussion and electronics (2009), A Few Plateaus  for laptop ensemble (2009), Nachtschatten, tape piece (2009),  Semaphores, tape piece (2009), Bureau Del Sol for drum kit, saxophone and timecode vinyl (2010), Superimpose III “Infinite Jest”  for saxophone, electric guitar, percussion and electronics (2010),  Superimpose IV “Streamlines” for saxophone, bass clarinet, electric  guitar, percussion and electronics (2010), Superimpose V “Sugar,  Maths and Whips” for violin, double bass, piano, percussion and  electronics (2010), Ships, wrecks, vivid temporal photography for three musicians and electronics (2010), Vodopad, film music  (2010), White Box, film music (2010), The Grand Dissection for  large ensemble, conductor with arm sensors and live electronics  (2011), Your Fox’s A Dirty Gold for singer, motion sensors, electric  guitar and live electronics (2011), Point Ones for small ensemble, conductor with arm sensors and live electronics (2012), Bird  Snapper for singer, saxophone, electric bass, electric guitar, percussion and keyboard (2012), Bifurcation Fury for electric bass  guitar, live electronics and live light (2012), Bottom Feeder for  drum kit, saxophone and timecode vinyl (2013), Sweet Anticipation for drum kit, motion sensors, live electronics and live video  (2013), SCANNERS for string ensemble and electronics (2013),  Lucky Dip for MIDI drum kit, electric guitar, keyboard, live electronics, live light and video (2013), Unit Cycle, audiovisual installation (2013), Serious Smile for drum kit, cello, piano, conductor  and motion sensors (2014), HELLO for saxophone quartet, live  electronics and video (2014), Sensate Focus for violin, electric  guitar, drum pads, bass clarinet and light (2014), Star Me Kitten for small ensemble, singer and video (2015), Supramodal  Parser for small ensemble, singer and lights (2015), Black Mirror for ensemble, choreography, video and lights (2016), f1 for  small ensemble, live electronics and video (2016), Solid State,  audio and light installation (2016), Black Out BRD for ensemble  (2017), Codec Errorfor two percussionists, double bass and light  (2017), It Was Not An Easy Situation, video work (2017), Control, immersive control scenario (2018), Av3ry, AI music project  for server (2019–), Unity Switch, interactive virtual performative  installation (2019), A Perfect Circle, therapy session for audience,  two speakers, two assistants and supervisor (2019), GENESIS, virtual real-life computer game for online participants and human  avatars (2020), Convergence for string ensemble and AI system  (2020–21), Browsing, Idling, Investigating, Dreaming for online  quartet (2020), Asterism, immersive AI oracle simulation with  performers, singers / performers, percussionists / performers,  VR, light and sound (2021), Crawlers, autonomous AI bot collective, continuous online project and installation (2021), Holo_ Acid.MOV (CRYPT-File), AI-based ensemble piece with instruments and sung choir passages (2021), ANIMA™, AI-based  performance piece for Decoder Ensemble, performers, IRCAM  electronics, video, choreography, scenography and light (2022),  Sleep Laboratory, VR-based immersive installation for ensemble  musicians / performers and VR video (2022), Angel Death Traps,  transhuman techno-romantic song cycle (2021–23), BLEED.SIM  (NPC Ritual File), VR-based performance piece for performer,  VR headset, virtual body simulation and 3D environment (2023),  Steady State for solo performer, two assistants, EEG cap, motion  sensor, video and live electronics (2024), Terminal Infinity, posthuman requiem for members of the Berliner Philharmoniker and  Karajan Academy, with performers, choreography, video, robotics  / mechatronics and light (2025).