The Parker Chorale is excited about the addition of Paul Smith to its staff, as the new Artistic Director/Senior Conductor.
The board of the Parker Chorale did an extensive search to find the perfect fit for this growing group started in April of 2010. The group goes on hiatus for the summer but came back for a directing interview where the top candidates directed the chorale. Paul Smith was the perfect match.
Paul’s reputation, experience and warmth made him the perfect fit. We had many incredible candidates, but Paul seemed to really connect with the group during his audition. Alicia Pope – Chairman/Founder, Parker Chorale
Mr. Smith received his undergraduate degree in instrumental music from Lawrence University in Appleton Wisconsin in 1971. In the mid-1970’s, he attended the University of Colorado at Boulder and earned an MME degree in choral music. At CU, Paul studied voice with Dr. Barbara Doscher, and choral conducting and literature with Dr. Lynn Whitten.
He has spent most of his professional life teaching high school choral music. After several years in Iowa, he taught at Niwot High School in Longmont, Colorado beginning in 1976. In 1982 he came to the Cherry Creek School District where he directed choirs and musicals at Cherry Creek High School and Overland High School. He was a member of the cadre that developed Grandview High School and was the choir director and Performing Arts Coordinator there from 1997 through 2004. Mr. Smith retired from public school teaching in June of 2004.
With the variety of other choral directing experiences Paul Smith has had during his career, adding a community chorale to that list seemed an obvious choice. He directed choirs at Hope United Methodist Church, Cherry Hills Community Church, and Colorado Community Church. From 2005 through 2012, he directed the Lamont Men’s Choir and taught classes in choral literature and choral pedagogy at the University of Denver. For the past four years, Mr. Smith has worked with Young Voices of Colorado, directing the Boychoir for three years and beginning this year, directing VoiceMale, a choir for young men with changed and changing voices.
He is very excited to begin his tenure as director of the Parker Chorale this fall, in preparation for their holiday concert “A Classic Parker Holiday” with the Parker Symphony Orchestra, Dec. 7 & 8, 2013 at PACE Center Parker Arts Culture and Entertainment Center.
Visit their website at ParkerChorale.org for more information on how you can be a part of this 75 voice community chorale in Parker rehearsing at the PACE Center.
