He was a composer and arranger born Stephen Harrison Paulus in Summit, New Jersey who was raised in Minnesota from two years old after his family had relocated there. After high school he studied for his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music at the University of Minnesota before earning his doctorate in composition there in 1978. In 1973 he was the co-founder of the American Composers Forum.
In 1983 he took on the position of composer-in-residence at the Minnesota Orchestra and five years later in 1988 took up the composer-in-residence post with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, where he was commissioned to write several choral works for the conductor Robert Shaw to be performed by his own choral ensemble.
He began working with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis who performed the premiere of his opera The Postman Always Rings Twice. It was so successful that he wrote another four operas for the company and several more operas that were performed by other companies.
From 1990 he worked on the ASCAP Board of Directors as the Symphony and Concert representative until his death.
In 1997 the American Choral Directors Association awarded him the Brock Commission to write a choral composition that resulted in his “God Be With Us.”
After working as a composer for more than four decades he wrote in excess of 600 works, including 12 operas, for bands, chamber ensembles, orchestras, individual instruments, choirs and solo vocalists. His work has also been heard on numerous recordings.
His commissioned work has been performed by many orchestras and ensembles which include Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Robert Shaw Festival Singers, the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus, the Tucson Symphony and the Dale Warland Singers. They have also been commissioned and performed by artists such as Thomas Hampson, Hakan Hagegard, Leo Kottke and Doc Severinsen along with numerous others.
The conductors that have led his works include Christoph von Dohnanyi, Sir Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Robert Shaw, Leonard Slatkin and Dale Warland as just a few of many.
After suffering a stroke in July 2013 he died from medical complications the following year in October 2014. He was 65 years old.
After his death he was nominated for a 2015 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition and the following year won the 2016 Grammy Award. Also in 2016 he won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium for the recording Stephen Paulus: Three Places of Enlightenment, Veil of Tears & Grand Concerto.
Dale Warland Singers recordings
Three Nativity Carols: The Holly and the Ivy, This Endris Night, Wonder Tidings
Gothic 49208 (CD: Christmas with the Dale Warland Singers)
Arranger – Stephen Paulus
Conductor – Dale Warland
Oboe – Kathleen Robinson
Harp – Kathy Kienzie
Sources:
- https://stephenpaulus.com/pages/biography
- https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/22/arts/music/stephen-paulus-classical-composer-rich-in-lyricism-dies-at-65.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Paulus
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Choral_Directors_Association#Brock_Commission
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/stephen-paulus-mn0000578629#biography
- https://www.schott-music.com/en/person/index/index/urlkey/stephen-paulus
- https://www.eamdc.com/psny/composers/stephen-paulus/biography/
- https://www.naxos.com/Bio/Person/Stephen_Paulus/59468
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/stephen-paulus-mn0000578629#credits
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/1279732-Stephen-Paulus