Paul Prior
Music Education & Competitions
Paul Prior is a pianist/composer from Longford, Ireland. Paul began piano lessons at the late age of 14 and within a year he had achieved a distinction in his Grade 8 RIAM Piano exam, imbuing him with the belief that it is never too late to start and achieve highly.
He went on to complete a degree in Music Composition with a minor in Technology from Trinity College Dublin, going on to pursue further studies at Griffith College in Music Production. In completing his later studies he received a high first for his dissertation, for which he designed and programmed a series of software synthesizers allowing for performance in alternate tuning systems.
While completing his college degrees Paul studied piano part-time with Lance Coburn at RIAM, specialising in the French Impressionist and Russian Romantic styles of performance.
While there Paul won the Margaret O'Hea cup for his performance of pieces from Ravel's Miroirs and one of Chopin's Nocturnes.
In his final year of studies, he competed in the Dublin International Piano Competition performing two Scarlatti piano sonatas and Rachmaninoff's Piano Sonata No.2
Music Teaching
Paul's passion for music in all its forms is only matched by his enthusiasm for sharing that passion with others.
Beginning teaching both piano and LC grinds at home in Longford, Paul grew his network of students to cover all ages, from as young as four to as old as fully grown adults.
He also got the opportunity to travel to America and teach piano to hundreds of children on a summer camp, which offered him the chance to hone his teaching style into one based on fostering the student's curiosity.
Paul has also given lectures and presentations on changes in music during the Reformation, the relativism of Consonance and Dissonance, and an in-depth examination of Ravel's compositional style present in Gaspard de la Nuit.
Current Projects
Currently, Paul works for Irish conductor/composer Eimear Noone and her husband Craig Stuart Garfinkle, most recently acting as copyist and score supervisor on an upcoming animated movie.
Paul is also preparing an interactive audio-visual installation for the exhibition at an appropriate festival during the upcoming year.