Incoming Artistic Director of Orchestral Studies and Assistant Professor of Music

University of Connecticut

Artistic Director of Instrumental Studies and Assistant Professor of Music

Binghamton University

Director

Symphoria Youth Orchestras

Music Director

Connecticut Symphony Orchestra

Biography

Described by the Baltimore Sun as both a "lyrical and rhythmically incisive" conductor, Paul McShee, Artistic Director of Instrumental Studies and Assistant Professor at Binghamton University, is known for the "energy and sincere expression" of his performances. Equally at home on the podium and in the opera pit, Dr. McShee is sought after as a conductor for opera productions in the US and Europe. He was a staff conductor for the Baltimore Opera Project, guest conductor for La traviata and Madama Butterfly at Paul Hamlyn Hall in London, and music director of the PopUp Opera Program in Edinburgh, Scotland. He also serves as music director of the Connecticut Valley Symphony Orchestra based in West Hartford, CT.

Paul has conducted the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, the Boulder Chamber Orchestra, the London Paradisal Players, L’Orchestre QuiPasseParLà, L’Orchestre Band-Son, the Philharmonie Mihail Jora, and the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic.

A champion of new music, and works of underrepresented composers, Paul is currently preparing a collected edition of the instrumental works of Margaret Bonds.  Additionally, he has worked with composers including Kenneth Fuchs, Avner Dorman, Anna Clyne, and Nathan Fletcher.

A passionate believer in the importance of music in our communities, Paul is also the director of the Symphoria Youth Orchestra program.  There, he conducts the Symphoria Youth Repertory and Young Artists’ Orchestra, which perform multiple concerts each year throughout the Syracuse area and collaborate closely with local school programs to bring high-quality music making to their community.

He holds the DMA in conducting from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and a MM from the University of Connecticut.He has served on the faculties of the University of Minnesota, the University of Connecticut, and Binghamton University. His current research concerns the intersections between philosophy and the music of Brahms, Wagner, and Mahler. His dissertation, “Gentle into that Good Night: Rejection of Linear Structural Narratives in Finales by Brahms, Wagner, and Mahler,” was recognized by Peabody Conservatory faculty with a commendation.

Dr. McShee studied under Marin Alsop, Gustav Meier, and Harvey Felder. His principal flute teachers were Emmanuel Pahud, Verena Bosshart, and Teresa Bowers.

You were one of the only professionals we have ever worked with that made us genuinely feel as though we could succeed - that we should feel proud of what we have to offer.

— Brian Shaw, University of Connecticut Student

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