Highly regarded for his interpretation of baroque and classical repertoire, particularly the Evangelist in the Passions of J. S. Bach, Paul’s recent collaborations include recitals with the renowned pianists Bengt Forsberg and Kathryn Stott, the New Zealand String Quartet and the Australia Ensemble. Career highlights include Bach’s Johannes Passion with the Australian Chamber Orchestra under Richard Tognetti, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra under the late Richard Hickox and Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under Marcus Stenz. Paul appears regularly with all the state symphony orchestras of Australia, Australian Chamber Orchestra; Australian Brandenburg Orchestra; Sydney Philharmonia Choirs; Pinchgut Opera; Australia Ensemble; Auckland Philharmonia; Christchurch Symphony; Christchurch City Choir and Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir. Paul has appeared as soloist in the festivals of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and has given concerts for broadcast on ABC Classic FM and the MBS network. He was a member of The Song Company from 1997 to 2001, touring regularly with this ensemble throughout Australia, Asia and Europe.

Paul’s discography includes the debut solo album A Painted Tale - English, French and Italian lute songs; a CD and DVD recording of Handel’s Messiah; Handel’s Semele; Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo; Purcell’s The Fairy Queen; Mozart’s Idomeneo, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and Fauré’s La naissance de Venus. He is featured on Swoon - A Visual and Musical Odyssey and The Swoon Collection Gold Edition; the Christmas discs Perfect Day, Silent Night and Glorious Night; Prayer for Peace; Eternity; Danny Boy, Ye Banks and Braes, Praise II and the soundtrack to the Australian feature film The Bank. These recordings are available through ABC Shops, ABC Online and buywell.com.

Last season’s engagements included Bach’s Mass in B Minor with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Bach’s Magnificat with Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir, Gagliano’s La Dafne in the Woodend Winter Arts Festival; La Pythonisse in Charpentier’s David and Jonathan for Pinchgut Opera, Purcell’s The Tempest, Britten’s ‘Choral Dances’ from Gloriana and Tippett’s Songs for Ariel for Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Handel’s Messiah for Collegium Choirs Perth and Orff’s Carmina Burana for Willoughby Symphony Orchestra. Paul also covered The Novice in Britten’s Billy Budd and Janek in Janacek’s The Makropulos Secret for Opera Australia.

2009 sees Paul appear with the Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, The Queensland Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Australia Ensemble, Festival Baroque Perth, Sydney Chamber Choir and St George’s Cathedral, Perth.

Paul holds a Bachelor of Creative Arts degree from the University of Southern Queensland, a Graduate Diploma of Music from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University and a Master of Music (Performance) degree from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2002 to undertake intensive study in baroque repertoire at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, Netherlands http://www.koncon.nl/ and is Lecturer in Voice within the School of Drama, Fine Art, Music (Conservatorium) at The University of Newcastle, New South Wales.

Source: Paul McMahon

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