"It's euphoric. There's nothing like it."
Peter Paulsen (b. 1951) is a classical and jazz performer, both of which influence his composition style. Three of his CDs—Tri-Cycle by the Peter Paulsen Trio (Wahbo Records, 2005), Useful Music by the Jeff Baumeister Quartet (Wahbo Records, 2004), and Three-Stranded Cord by the Peter Paulsen Quintet (R&L Records, 1999)—received international airplay, top 10 ratings, and print reviews.
Paulsen has been awarded three Pennsylvania Council on the Arts fellowships, and he was the Gold Prize Jazz Composition winner in the Songwriters Association of Washington/Mid-Atlantic Song Contest. Another recent release is Change of Scenery for Sextet (Wahbo Records, 2006). Paulsen has been on the faculty at Moravian College, Lehigh University, and Temple University, and is currently instructor of double bass and jazz studies at West Chester University. He is an active member of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra and principal bass of the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, and has been principal bass with the Spoleto Festival Orchestra in Spoleto, Italy, the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra, and Pennsylvania Symphonia. He is also a freelance jazz bassist and performs regularly with his own trio as well as many of Philadelphia's top jazz performers.