Paul, Thomas (Warburton)

Paul, Thomas (Warburton) , distinguished American bass; b. Chicago, Feb. 22, 1934. He studied viola with Robert Gross and voice with Howard Swan at Occidental Coll. in Los Angeles (B.A., 1956), and then pursued graduate studies in conducting with Jean Morel and Frederic Waldman at the Juilliard School of Music in N.Y. (1956–57). After studying voice with Themy Georgi in Washington, D.C. (1957–59), he returned to N.Y. to continue vocal training with Hans Joachim Heinz (1961–64) and Beverley Johnson (1964–69). Still later he pursued vocal studies in N.Y. with Ted Puffer (from 1999). On Oct. 4, 1962, he made his formal operatic debut as Monterone at the N.Y.C. Opera, where he continued to sing until 1971. He made his first appearance as a soloist with orch. in 1962 when he sang with the Boston Sym. Orch. under Leinsdorfs direction. In subsequent years, he appeared as a soloist with several major U.S. orchs. From 1971 to 1987 he sang at the Rochester (N.Y.) Opera Theatre, and from 1971 to 1996 at the Washington (D.C.) Opera. He also was active as a singer and teacher at the Aspen (Colo.) Music Festival from 1971 to 1990, and from 1971 to 1998 he was a prof, of voice at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y On April 3,1976, he made his European debut in Zürich as a soloist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. In Dec. 1980 he made his recital debut at N.Y/s Alice Tully Hall. From 1981 to 1986 he was a member of the Bach Aria Group. Paul’s extensive operatic and concert repertoire ranges from the Baroque era to the contemporary period. In addition to the standard works, he has sung in premieres of scores by Elliott Carter, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Carlisle Floyde, Bernard Rands, Robert Ward, and many others.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire