John F. Paul

Interim Director of the School of Music

John F. Paul recently retired from Benedictine College (Atchison, Kansas) where he chaired the Department of Music and taught composition, music theory and music history.  He previously chaired music departments at Pacific Lutheran University (Tacoma, Washington) and Marylhurst University (Portland, Oregon). He has served on the Board of Directors and Commission on Accreditation for the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), as well as a taskforce that helped update the association’s standards for sacred music programs.  He has served on boards for Cascadia Composers, Portland Summer Ensembles, and Ars Nova Music. 

Paul is an active composer in both traditional and contemporary formats.  At the Institute of Psycho-acoustics and Electronic Music (I.P.E.M) in Ghent, Belgium, Paul created works to be broadcast over Belgian National Radio and at the International Festival of Experimental Music (Bourges, France). His videogame credits include the music scores and sound-designs for Gauntlet Legends, Maximum Force, and Pit-fighter. His original score to F.W. Murnau's 1930 silent film City Girl, funded in part by a Career Opportunity Grant from the Oregon Arts Commission, has been presented with live accompaniment at the Oregon Sesquicentennial Film Festival, Astoria Music Festival, and by Vancouver (Washington) and Oregon East Symphonies.  Paul’s instrumental compositions have been heard at West Fork New Music Festival (Fairmont, West Virginia), Cascadia Composers concerts (Portland, Oregon), Ernst Bloch Music Festival (Newport, Oregon), New Music and Art Festival (Bowling Green, Ohio), June-in-Buffalo New Music Festival (New York) and Composers Inc. recital series (San Francisco). His choral works have been performed by Chorus Austin Vocal Arts Ensemble, Portland Vocal Consort, Choral Arts Ensemble of Portland, and Opus 7 Vocal Ensemble (Seattle). As a violinist he has been a member of the Austin (Texas) and Owensboro (Kentucky) Symphony Orchestras. 

He earned the Bachelor of Music degree in Theory/Composition from the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas-Austin, and his Master of Music and Doctor of Music degrees in composition from the Jacob School of Music at Indiana University-Bloomington.

Professional website: www.johnfpaul.com