Paul Carr(b.1961)

Paul Carr was born in Cornwall in 1961. He trained in voice and piano at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama but then moved into opera stage management, working with some of the world's most exciting opera companies in a career spanning over 30 years. In 2011 he directed his first production, Puccini's much-loved, Suor Angelica, for the Dorset Opera Festival, returning to direct another four productions and receiving glowing reviews in the national press. He directed Amahl and the Night Visitors for the Nederlandse Reisopera in 2016, returning in 2018 to direct Der Fliegende Hollander.
Paul began composing at the age of 15, receiving his first offer of publication some three years later; he has written works for orchestra, including concertos and much chamber music, but it is for his choral music that he has become more widely known in recent times. In 2011 the recording of his Requiem for an Angel was taken up by Classic FM as their 'Disc of the Week' taking Paul's music to a much wider audience and helping it become one his most popular and widely performed works to date, with many performances here in the UK as well as abroad.
In 2013 his Seven Last Words from the Cross received a standing ovation at its premiere in Bath Abbey, as did his more recent Stabat Mater when it was premiered by the English Arts Chorale in Reigate, Surrey and in the magnificent chapel of St. John's College, Cambridge in October 2017. Both works have also now been recorded and join his Requiem disc which is on the Stone Records label. His orchestral works include the popular Air for Strings, which has become a regular feature on Classic FM, a Sinfonietta and various concertos for Nicholas Daniel (Oboe), Rupert Marshall-Luck (Violin) and Natalie Clein (Cello). In 2014 Paul was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Nottingham Trent University for his 'significant contribution to music at a national level'.