Paul Smith - #singtoinspire
Biography —
Paul Smith is an innovative and creative performer, conductor, composer, an inspirational educator and an empowering public speaker. As co-founder of Grammy-nominated VOCES8, author of The VOCES8 Method and CEO of the VOCES8 Foundation, his annual programme sees him working globally in prestigious concert venues, festivals, schools, universities and wider communities.
Paul is passionate about the impact singing and the arts can have in the widest possible context – from academic improvement to social skills and building more cohesive communities. He uses that passion to design and deliver unique, inclusive and uplifting performance projects. Collaboration is a key word to describe Paul’s approach to music making, and in recent collaborations, he has been thrilled to work with artists including Paul Simon, Eric Whitacre, percussionist/composer Teena Lyle, stage designer Julia Hansen (Glyndebourne, Santa Fe Opera) Christophe Duquense (Dune 2), opera director Anisha Bondy (Komische Oper Berlin) and loop station world champion, MandoBeatbox.
During the last three years Paul has led the VOCES8 Foundation in two major online initiatives. The online LIVE From London festivals set a benchmark for artistic collaboration and provided performers, composers and arts organisations from around the world with a focus during a time of great upheaval. Paul was himself a performer in the festival as well as having his compositions premiered. The VOCES8 Digital Academy was also launched in 2020, giving the opportunity for choirs and individuals to learn choral works online with VOCES8 and Paul, and to have live sessions. This proved especially valuable whilst students were having to learn both at home and at their educational establishment.
Season highlights for 2024-25 include: leading the Sing’In massed choir projects across France and Germany, work with the Philharmonies in Paris and Berlin; performances of works from his new album titled ‘Revolutions’ at the Kaufman Centre, New York and the Barbican, London; various performances in France, Germany and Austria of his community project ‘Rhythm of Life’ with MandoBeatbox and Daniela Mars; programmes with VOCES8, Apollo5 and Lyyra (the new upper voice ensemble from the VOCES8 Foundation) across the US, and concerts and workshops in Germany, the USA, Asia and South America.
The VOCES8 Method, written by Paul, is published by Edition Peters in four languages, and is now being used in thousands of schools in numerous countries around the world. The Method is designed to link specific music-making activities with academic improvement in numeracy, literacy and linguistics.
As a composer, Paul writes regularly for vocal groups, choirs, orchestras and soloists. Publications in 2024-25 included Wayfaring Stranger, Magnificat and Love Always Within. Other recently published commissions include his setting of the Nunc Dimittis and the Edo Lullaby on the VOCES8 Singles range. Paul’s music is published by VOCES8 Publishing, ECS/Morningstar and Edition Peters. Publications and commissions for 2024-25 include a new album of his work for VOCES8, which is released as part of the 20th Anniversary celebration for the group, and will include a feature performance at the Barbican in 2025.
As a composer and pianist, Paul works with flutist and composer, Daniela Mars in their duo, MARS SMITH. This season will see them give concerts as they tour their new album ‘Faroe Islands: Echoes on the Wind’. They will be collaborating with Wishful Singing for concerts in The Netherlands and will give performances together in the UK, US, France and Germany and also make a debut visit to Asia. They continue their work on a new album inspired by Lençóis Maranhenses in Brazil.
Since its inception in 2007 the VOCES8 Foundation has worked with 500,000 young people. Projects have included massed singing performances at the Royal Opera House (London), Cité de la Musique (Paris) and La Folle Journée (Nantes); and with “singing city” projects in cities such as Torino, Wroclaw, Lyon, Hannover, Houston, Albuquerque, Dallas/Fort Worth, Bermuda, Nairobi, Lagos, Dubai, Tokyo, and Taipei. Working in partnership with the Diocese of London, Paul has spearheaded the creation of a home for the VOCES8 Foundation at the VOCES8 Centre, a centre of excellence in vocal music performance, education and outreach in the heart of the City of London.
As an educator and public speaker, Paul has given speeches and created sessions on music and leadership, teamwork, music and creativity, health and wellbeing, and The VOCES8 Method. He presented a TEDx talk entitled ‘How can we use music to help us learn?’. Engagements at international conferences include the ACDA National conventions; Europa Cantat; the London Music Education Expo; Chor.com; the World Symposium of Singing at the Liszt Music Academy; the World Symposium of Choral Music and at the Royal College of Music in London.
Paul has been singing for more than 30 years, first as a boy chorister with the choir of Westminster Abbey, and, since 2005 with VOCES8. As a recording artist with Decca Classics, Paul has featured on best-selling, chart-topping albums and won a host of international awards. He was an Executive Producer on VOCES8’s Grammy-nominated album ‘The Lost Birds’. His first album as a solo artist, ‘Reflections’, was released in 2019 and entered the top 10 in the UK Specialist Classical Charts. His 2022 album, ‘Renewal?’ has also received wide critical acclaim.
Paul is passionate about the impact singing and the arts can have in the widest possible context – from academic improvement to social skills and building more cohesive communities. He uses that passion to design and deliver unique, inclusive and uplifting performance projects. Collaboration is a key word to describe Paul's approach to music making, and in 2022-23 Paul is thrilled to be working with artists including Paul Simon, Eric Whitacre, percussionist/composer Teena Lyle, stage designer Julia Hansen (Glyndebourne, Santa Fe Opera) and opera director Anisha Bondy (Komische Oper Berlin).
During the last three years Paul has led the VOCES8 Foundation in two major online initiatives. The online LIVE From London festivals set a benchmark for artistic collaboration and provided performers, composers and arts organisations from around the world with a focus during a time of great upheaval. Paul was himself a performer in the festival as well as having his compositions premiered. The VOCES8 Digital Academy was also launched in 2020, giving the opportunity for choirs and individuals to learn choral works online with VOCES8 and Paul, and to have live sessions. This proved especially valuable whilst students were having to learn both at home and at their educational establishment.
Season highlights for 2022-23 include: leading the ‘Sing'In’ massed choir projects across France, including in the Philharmonie in Paris; performances of works from his new album titled ‘Renewal?’ at the Kaufman Centre, New York and King's Place, London; a new 'Happening' interactive experience for family concerts designed for the Philharmonie in Luxembourg; performances of his family concert ‘The Winter House’ programme with the Orchestra D'Auvergne in a series of concerts for families and young people; leading projects with VOCES8 and Apollo5 across the US through the VOCES8 US Foundation, and concerts and workshops in Germany, the USA, Vietnam and elsewhere.
The VOCES8 Method, written by Paul, is published by Edition Peters in four languages, and is now being used in thousands of schools in numerous countries around the world. The Method is designed to link specific music-making activities with academic improvement in numeracy, literacy and linguistics.
Paul, co-founder of VOCES8 and author of the VOCES8 Method demonstrates a vocal and physical percussion exercise from chapter 1 and 2 of the VOCES8 Method.
In this video Paul demonstrates a creative response to 'Music on the waters', by Jonathan Dove. With members of VOCES8, Apollo5 and the VOCES8 Scholars, Paul demonstrates different elements of the song before the group create music together.
Photography courtesy of Emma Saunders and Andy Summers.