Paul Caldwell is Artistic Director of the Seattle Men’s Chorus / Seattle Women’s Chorus. Together, these two ensembles comprise the largest adult community choral organization in America. The groups are uniquely committed to using music as a vehicle for promoting social justice. Prior to taking this post in 2016, Paul had spent 15 years as Artistic Director of the Youth Choral Theater of Chicago, an after-school program enrolling 200 young people in Chicago’s northern suburbs. His innovative leadership garnered national recognition when the Youth Choral Theater was awarded the Chorus America/ASCAP prize for Adventurous Programming. He has conducted honor choirs for both the Southern and Northwestern divisions of the American Choral Directors Association. He has led all-state choirs in South Carolina, Maryland, Missouri, and Colorado.
Paul composes and arranges music collaboratively with Sean Ivory. The choral works of Caldwell and Ivory (including Go Where I Send Thee, Hope for Resolution, John the Revelator and Ain’t No Grave Can Hold My Body Down) have been telecast on PBS and A&E and performed at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Sydney Opera House, and throughout Europe, Asia and Africa. Caldwell and Ivory made their Carnegie Hall debut in 2015, leading a concert comprised entirely of music they composed.
Paul has been a member of the Board of Directors of Chorus America, the US/Canadian service organization for independent choruses. His work on behalf of the choral field has been honored with Chorus America’s Michael J. Korn Founders Award for Philanthropic Contribution to the Arts.
