Paul Terracini
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Dr Paul Terracini (b.1957) was born in Sydney and has enjoyed a career in Australia and internationally as an instrumentalist, composer, arranger, and conductor. He has held permanent positions as Principal Trumpet in the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra (1975-1979); Lecturer in Trumpet, Brass Ensemble and Big Band at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music (1982-1988); and Solo Trumpet in the Danish Chamber Players, Denmark (1991-2007.
As a composer and arranger, his music has been heard throughout the world in a variety of genres, performed and recorded by, amongst others, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Residentie Orchestra in The Hague, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Julliard School of Music, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Danish Chamber Players, Australian Brass Quintet, and at festivals and conferences on every continent. His music for the two-part ABC television series, Hymns of the Forefathers, in which he developed many of the traditional English hymns into symphonic poems, received international acclaim and was released on CD and DVD by ABC Classics. His title music for the television series, Classical Destinations, which was produced for three seasons, was featured on the ‘Number 1 Classical Album of the Year,’ released by Decca.
As an instrumentalist, he performed as soloist in Australia, Europe, USA, and Asia. Within Australia, his solo performances included concertos with the Melbourne, Queensland, West Australian, and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras.
Paul Terracini has recorded 10 CDs as conductor with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and appeared as an opera conductor at the German Rossini Festival in Bad Wildbad, for the Danish Bel Canto Society, and the Storstrøms Symphony Orchestra, in Denmark. He is presently the Artistic Director/Chief Conductor of the Kuringai Philharmonic Orchestra (2017-); and the Penrith Symphony Orchestra (2010-) with which he has, apart from programming and conducting the symphonic repertoire, pioneered the performance of chamber opera in Western Sydney. For many years he has been invited as a guest conductor/composer to music schools and universities in Europe, USA, China, and Australia. He conducts regularly for the Conservatorium High School (2009-), and as a choral conductor, he has recorded for ABC Classics with Ars Nova Copenhagen, the Sydney based choir, Cantillation, and is presently the Artistic Director of the Blue Mountains chamber choir, Academy Singers (2012-).
The CD, Paul Terracini: Music for Brass, on which he conducted members of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra performing his own music, was released on the Tall Poppies label. This recording won the 2017 “CD of the Year” award in Great Britain, from Brass Band World Magazine. His work in youth music in Western Sydney, as Artistic Director of Penrith Youth Orchestra, continues to bear fruit as the organisation enjoys its sixth season in partnership with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre.