Mr. Paul Patton, Organist and Director of Music

Paul Patton, M.M., M.Div., S.T.M., is Organist and Director of Music at Saint Ambrose since summer 2009.  He formerly served at Emmaus United Church of Christ, Church of the Holy Comforter (Episcopal), both in Vienna, VA, and as Artistic and Musical Director of the Vienna Choral Society.   He also served briefly at Fort Myer in Arlington as Assistant Ceremonial Organist and Assistant Organist for the Roman Catholic and Protestant Communities on the base.

Paul holds a Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory of Music, a Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California, and Master of Divinity and Master of Sacred Theology degrees from Yale University Divinity School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. In 1994-1995 he did graduate work in Liturgy in the School of Religious Studies of the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.  As accompanist since 1996 for Voce Chamber Singers, he has received critical praise in The Washington Post.

Paul also studied at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg, Germany, was formerly a pianist for the New York City Ballet and Dutch National Ballet, served as repetiteur for the Opera House in Bremen, Germany, and as faculty accompanist-coach for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.  He has worked in churches in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and in England and The Netherlands.  He is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the American Guild of Organists, the Association of Anglican Musicians, the Choristers Guild, the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, and the Royal School of Church Music in America.

Paul and his wife, Susan, have two daughters, Sarah and Hannah.