Paul Halley
playing Rufatti organ
at Spivey Hall

Paul Halley
M.A. Cantab., FRCO, ARCT

Paul Halley was born in Romford, England in 1952 and received his early musical training in Ottawa, Canada, where he studied piano, organ and singing.  At the age of sixteen, he was made an Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto.  Having been awarded the organ scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge under Dr. Richard Marlow, he received his M.A. with prizes in composition and performance, and was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, winning first prize in the College examinations.  Via a circuitous route involving two years teaching in Jamaica, W.I., and the study of Development Economics at the University of Victoria, BC, Halley became Organist and Choirmaster at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City where he served for thirteen years, 1977 to 1990, transforming the Cathedral’s music program into a rich combination of classical and contemporary music. Concurrent with his tenure at the Cathedral, Halley became a principal member of The Paul Winter Consort and earned four Grammy Awards for his contributions as featured writer and performer on many Consort recordings.   

Following his departure from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in 1990, Halley settled in rural northwestern Connecticut and founded Joyful Noise, Inc., the non-profit organization which administers the children’s choir, Chorus Angelicus and the adult ensemble, Gaudeamus. These choirs continue to bring their celebrated sound to audiences throughout North America and Europe through an annual concert series of classical masterworks and contemporary repertoire, tours and recordings. In 1999, Halley became Director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Church, Torrington, CT and established the Joyful Noise choirs there as Artists-In-Residence. At Trinity, Halley conducts a 30-voice, semi-professional choir, mentors an Organ Scholar from Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music, and creates fresh hymn descants and new settings of liturgical music. Halley has expanded the church’s music ministry to include monthly Vespers services, and the Trinity Arts Series, a forum for the work of professional musicians and artists in a sacred space. 

In July 2007, Halley assumed the music directorship of
three historic and venerable institutions in the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia.  At St. George’s Anglican Church (known as the Round Church), Halley directs a semi-professional choir of twenty-five at weekly Holy Eucharist as well as monthly Choral Evensong and services for Feast Days. Halley has the distinct pleasure of accompanying worship services on the beautiful mechanical action instrument built by Orgues Letourneau  (Opus 76) which was installed in the chancel in October 2002.  Halley is also Director of Chapel Music at University of King's College, where he has assembled a choir of sixteeen young choral scholars drawn from the student body at both King's and Dalhousie University.  Services of Choral Evensong and Holy Communion are held weekly throughout the academic term, and the Chapel Choir has already embarked on a schedule of concert tours.  A program for organ scholars is also underway. At Atlantic School of Theology, Halley holds the position of University Musician involving musical accompaniment for services for the graduate theological students as well as coaching in liturgical music and vocal production. Halley
hopes to develop a School of Sacred Music in conjunction with these new appointments.

Halley and his wife and business partner Meg Race recently moved from the mountaintop farm in northwestern Connecticut, where they raised their combined family of six children, to the South Shore of Nova Scotia.  Summer days, which now extend from late April to late November, continue to be spent messing around in a growing fleet of boats: an endearing Cape Cod catboat which rejoices in the name, 'Magnificat', a lovely Rangeley Lakes guideboat,  a handmade curricle, and  two canoes.  And, a new community of spectacular individuals - writers, boat-builders, sailors, chefs, and artists - is the icing on the cake.

Halley’s compositions and recordings are produced and distributed by Pelagos Incorporated for which Halley acts as Creative Director.  Among Pelagos’ celebrated recordings are:  Nightwatch, a reissue of Halley’s landmark 1982 improvisation album, recorded on the Great Organ of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine;  Sound Over All Waters, a compilation of Halley’s choral works and arrangements for gospel singer Theresa Thomason and the professional choral ensemble, Keramion; Triptych, Halley’s keyboard works for the unique trio of piano, pipe organ, and harpsichord, recorded at Spivey Hall in Atlanta; and Untraveled Worlds, a glorious compilation of world music repertoire presented by Chorus Angelicus.  

Halley is frequently commissioned to write new works in
a range of genres, voicing, and instrumentation.    Compositions have been commissioned, performed and licensed by many notable artists and organizations including Sony Entertainment, Windham Hill/BMG Music, Hal Leonard, the New Jersey Symphony, John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra, The Louisville Symphony, Canadian Brass, Margie Gillis, and Jennifer Muller and The Works. Halley receives annual Composer Awards from ASCAP, and his recordings and performances are frequently broadcast on National Public Radio and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.  Recently commissioned works include the song cycle 'Evening Songs' for Louise Winter and Gerald Finley the choral/orchestral work 'In Sideribus Domi: At Home In The Stars' for the Clay Center of Science and Art, Charleston, WV,  'Preces and Responses' for Lichfield Cathedral Choir,  and 'Eternal Gifts' in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Choir of Men and Boys of St. Matthews Anglican Church, Ottawa, of which Halley is an alumnus.
 

Conducting choirs
and orchestra at
St. Anne Church

Directing Chorus Angelicus
from the keyboard

Letourneau organ
at St. George's Church

In academic garb
at King's
(with Meg Race)

Sporting Tilley hat
 

St. Matthew's Choir of Men and Boys
circa 1963

Paul Halley is fourth from left,
second row of boys standing,
with ruff but no medallion (yet)

Writing on a stone wall
at Bald Mountain