Paul Halley

All Music Guide:

Though he's best known as a member of the Paul Winter Consort, this English-born pianist has an impressive career of his own. After receiving a Masters degree from Cambridge, with prizes in composition and harpsichord playing, Halley was named Musical Director at New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine. There he expanded its music program to include a rich combination of contemporary as well as classical styles. He also wrote choral works and Broadway scores. Winter, whom Halley met in 1980, was the first to recognize the keyboardist's talent for improvisation and invited him to join the Paul Winter Consort. Halley has since been a featured performer on many of the Consort's finest albums.

Wikipedia:

Paul Halley (born 1952 in Romford, England) is an keyboardist, vocalist and composer. He is perhaps best known as being a member of and composer for the Paul Winter Consort.

Biography [edit]

Paul Halley was born in England in 1952 and sang in the choir of St. Matthew's Church, Ottawa, when his family migrated there. At age 16 he became an Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto and won an organ scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge. While organist and choirmaster at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1977 to 1989, he collaborated with Paul Winter to create the Missa Gaia/Earth Mass, Halley became a member of the Paul Winter Consort, and earned five Grammy Awards for his contributions as a composer and performer with the group. He left the Consort in 1999 after recording Journey With The Sun to pursue a solo career. Paul Halley's compositions have been performed and recorded by the New Jersey Symphony and John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra.

After leaving the Cathedral in 1989, Halley founded Joyful Noise, Inc., a non-profit organization designed to teach children proper vocal technique, music theory, and musicianship. The two groups involved with the organization are Chorus Angelicus and Gaudeamus.

He currently plays organ and sings bass for the Capella Regalis Men and Boys Choir and the King's Chorus and directs the King's College Chapel Choir in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He has a son, Nick Halley, who directs Capella Regalis.