Paul Max Edlin

In addition to his work as a composer, Paul Max Edlin has worked in a multitude of aspects in the music profession: as an educator, a practitioner and a promoter.  

 

He worked in universities for 39 years, reaching the positions of Professor of Music and then Director of Music at Queen Mary University of London, one of the U.K.'s most prestigious universities. He now guest lectures for Martin Randall Travel, arguably the world's leading company for outstanding cultural tours.

 

He was a founder member of the Artistic Group of Sounds New Contemporary Music Festival, of which he was Artistic Director from 2007 to 2013, a period in which it flourished. In that time he led programmes that saw Guest Composers such as Krzystof Penderecki (who conducted a rare performance of his St Luke Passion in Canterbury Cathedral with Warsaw Boys Choir, Camerata Silesian, Polish Radio Choir Katowice and Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, recorded for broadcast by EBU), Arvo Pärt (the U.K. premiere of Adam's Lament with the Choir of Kings College Cambridge and Philharmonia Orchestra), Sir John Tavener (The Veil of the Temple with Tenebrae and English Chamber Orchestra) and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, and ensembles and artists such as Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern, London Sinfonietta, Aurora Orchestra, Arditti Quartet, Tallin Ensemble, Århus Sinfonietta, Altera Veritas, Amsterdam Cello Octet, Rolf Hind, Kings Singers, BBC Big Band, Ronnie Scotts Big Band, Julian Joseph Trio and Grimethorpe Colliery Band.

 

From 2008 and to 2013 he was Director of the International Composer Pyramid, steering the development and implementation as well as artistic direction of this major international initiative for outstanding young composers, many of whom have gone on to be leaders in their field. The project was supported by INTERREG IVA 2 Mers Seas Zeeën – European Union.  

 

In 2005 he was invited to be Artistic Director of Deal Festival of Music and the Arts, following on from the cellist Steven Isserlis and composer David Matthews. He stepped down in 2010, but was once again asked to return to this role in 2014. He finally retired from a transformed organisation in 2022, now that it had become Deal Music & Arts, running a series of important and formative education programmes for East Kent as well as a thriving annual festival. He was particularly proud to see Deal Music & Arts become the home of NYJO Academy South-East, bringing access to the highest levels of jazz learning and engagement for young people from across the entire region.

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In 2011 he was elected President of the Independent Society of Musicians, the country's leading organisation for the music profession. In his time as President, he steered the organisation through a substantial review and change of its governance structure.

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As a conductor, Edlin has tended to focus on contemporary repertoire. He has conducted many premieres of new works as well as UK premieres of such pieces as Beat Furrer’s Ensemble II and Ernst Krenek’s Sestina. In 2010 he conducted the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Malta, allowing him an opportunity to explore the more romantic repertoire of Puccini and Verdi. In his years as a university Director of Music, he directed innumerable concerts, steering orchestras, choirs and ensembles through music by Gabrieli, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, Brahms, Mussorgsky, Rachmaninov, Holst, Stravinsky, Prokofiev and very many more. As a trumpet player, he particularly enjoyed the ‘clarino’ repertoire of Bach, Handel and Purcell and has played in many performances of works such as the B Minor Mass, Messiah, etc.

 

Paul Max Edlin studied at the Royal College of Music (composition with Edwin Roxburgh, Richard Blackford and Joseph Horovitz; trumpet with John Wallace CBE and Richard Walton, conducting with Christopher Adey and electronics with Lawrence Casserley). He has won many composition prizes including the IX Premio lnternazionale Ancona. He received a Leverhulme Studentship for further postgraduate study at the RCM. He continued his studies with Michael Finnissy at the University of Sussex where he took his doctorate. 

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A Fellow of the Independent Society of Musicians, he has served on the boards of several arts and music education organisations and charities, including Cantoris Charitable Trust, which supported Canterbury Cathedral choristers. He was founding Chair of the Board of Ora Singers, one of the world’s most prestigious vocal ensembles and the world's leading commissioner of new choral works. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of City Music Foundation and is Executive Chair of W.E. International Music & Arts, that brings West and East together through music and the wider arts.

 

On a personal note, Paul Max Edlin was born into an artistic environment. His mother, Marise, was a fine artist who worked a lot in surrealism - her parents were both opera singers, principals in the famous D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and who sang with other companies such as Carl Rosa. Paul has two sons. Peter, an artist, photographer, designer and owner of a gardening company, played lead guitar in the progressive rock group The Boot Lagoon. Timothy is a successful and prize-winning bass-baritone living and working in Germany. His stepdaughter, Miren, is a zoologist. Paul is married to Giuliana Gomiero, who specialises in teaching the piano and enriching people's lives through the power of music. He is a keen gardener and enjoys creativity in a host of respects, be it working with wood or photographing Tuscan landscapes.

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In 2022 Paul Max Edlin chose to make Italy his permanent home. He lives in Montepulciano where he now focuses on composing.