Gibson, Paul

Award-winning composer Paul Gibson (b. 1952, Sacramento, CA) has been passionate about choral music since he was four and heard Benedictine monks chanting in a small French monastery. He received his B.M. from Mount St. Mary’s College (Los Angeles) and his M.A. in composition from California State University, Northridge.

Gibson’s music has been performed by members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Richard Proulx, VocalEssence, the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, St. Olaf College, and three Grammy-winning ensembles: the Los Angeles Chamber Singers, the Kansas City Chorale, and the Phoenix Chorale, among many others.

Gibson’s It Fell Upon the High Midnight was co-winner of the 2005 Christmas Carol Competition sponsored by American Composers Forum and VocalEssence. He received the Owen Award for “outstanding achievement in the field of liturgical music,” and CREATOR magazine named his Veni Sancte Spiritus one of the ten best sacred works of
2001. The Los Angeles Times described Gibson’s Salve Regina as “music of vaulting exaltation,” and his work has been broadcast on hundreds of radio stations across North America.

In 1987, Gibson was commissioned to arrange hymns for the liturgies of Pope John Paul II’s visit to Los Angeles. 1993 saw the release of A Mass of Life, a critically acclaimed CD collection of his sacred music, described by author/classical radio host Jim Svejda as “...one of those rare contemporary works which manages to be simultaneously provocative, challenging and instantly approachable...a consistently rewarding, deeply moving work.”

Paul lives with his wife Carol and dogs in Anaheim, California. Find out more at PaulGibsonMusic.com.