2024 Adjudicators

After graduating with a music degree from Queen's University Paul fell in love with theatre and for many years composed shows and toured schools with a theatre company called Theatre On the Move. From there he began music directing and accompanying shows for other theatres throughout Ontario.

Fast forward to Stratford when he moved here in 1990 with his wife Barbara Fulton who became a regular and recognizable performer with Stratford Festival company. He briefly taught in the public school system here and then spent many years as the music teacher at Stratford Montessori School followed by four years at the Stratford Middle Years school.

During his time in Stratford he has composed the music for five productions at the Stratford Festival. He continues his close association with the Festival and in 2022 composed the music for All's Well That Ends Well in the new Tom Patterson Theatre.

His approach to teaching recognizes that most students are not interested in a career as a professional musician but simply want to learn the language of music to create, compose and have fun. However, it can only become fun with practice. He encourage parents to be involved even if music is a foreign language. Setting aside at least 15 or 20 minutes a day can make a tremendous difference in the student's progress as well as their eagerness to continue. He is, of course, willing to work with students who are interested in developing a more advanced proficiency. He loves working with any student who wishes to compose music or write their own songs.