Paul Caldwell
Now in his sixth season as Artistic Director of Seattle Men’s Chorus and Seattle Women’s Chorus, Paul Caldwell defines the creative trajectory for one of the nation’s largest community choral organizations. He conducts both choruses for performances in Seattle’s most prestigious venues. He has redesigned the chorus’s small ensemble structure, creating the first permanent group to include members of both the Seattle Men’s and Women’s Choruses. His focus on community engagement has enabled the organization to establish sustained, meaningful relationships with new civic partners.
Before coming to Seattle in 2016, Paul was in Chicago, serving as Artistic Director of the Windy City Gay Chorus and Windy City Treble Quire. He was also Artistic Director for the Youth Choral Theater of Chicago, a community- based after-school program enrolling 200 young people in Chicago’s northern suburbs. Paul’s work with youth garnered national recognition when his chorus received the Chorus America/ ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. Paul composes and arranges music collaboratively with Sean Ivory. Their choral works have been telecast on PBS and A&E and performed at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. Legendary guitarist Steve Vai collaborated with Caldwell and Ivory to create a choral-rock fusion song, “Book of the Seven Seals.” Paul made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in 2014, leading concerts comprised entirely of music he composed. He has also been artistic director for the ¡Canta! Costa Rica festival in San Jose. He returns to the Sing A Mile High choral festival in Denver biennially. Paul served three terms on the Board of Directors of Chorus America. His efforts on behalf of the choral field nationwide were recognized when he received the Michael J. Korn Founders Award for Philanthropic Contribution to the Arts.