Paul Thompson

Meet Paul Thompson

• DMA, University of Colorado – Boulder
• MM, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
• B.A., Marian University

Paul Thompson is Director of Choral Activities at Ripon College in Ripon, WI. He previously lived in Moscow, ID, where he served as Director of Choral Activities at the University of Idaho, Director of Music at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Palouse, and Artistic Director and Conductor of the Palouse Choral Society. Thompson has also been a member of the choral faculty at Francis Marion University, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the University of Wisconsin-Manitowoc, and spent four years directing the choirs at St. Mary’s Springs High School in Fond du Lac, WI.

In 2016, Thompson completed his DMA in Choral Conducting and Literature at CU-Boulder, where his TA duties included directing two vocal jazz ensembles, working with several choirs, and assisting in the teaching of undergraduate conducting. During this time, he won first place in the 2016 SWACDA Graduate Conducting Competition. Thompson also holds a MM in Choral Conducting from UW-Milwaukee, and a B.A. in Voice from Marian University in Fond du Lac, WI.

Thompson’s primary research interest is in the area of conducting pedagogy. His current focus is an attempt to inform and re-frame non-verbal musical communication using ideas from Information Theory and Bloom’s Taxonomy, a topic on which he has been invited to give workshops and presentations across the country. He is also working to integrate ideas from Servant Leadership into his conducting and methods pedagogy.

Thompson is an active participant in the furtherance of choral music throughout the country, frequently appearing as a clinician and honor choir director. He has served as registration chair for the WCDA State Conference, and currently serves as coordinator for Singing in Wisconsin. Also active as a singer, he has appeared as a soloist with the Boulder Philharmonic, The King’s Counterpoint, The North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, The Green Lake Festival, Bach Festival Florence, and the Florence Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he has appeared as a guest artist with Vocal Tapestry, Present Music in Milwaukee, and as a performer on the Yolanda Marculescu Vocal Arts Series.