Paul was educated at Chetham's before winning an entrance scholarship at seventeen to study singing at the RNCM with Nick Powell. Whilst at college Paul worked as tenor lay clerk at Manchester Cathedral and as a session singer with the BBC on Radio 4's live Daily Service programme.
Work followed at various opera houses at home and abroad most notably some forty productions with Scottish Opera over five years which included several broadcasts live from the Edinburgh Festival on Radio 3 and on BBC 2. Paul worked extensively with various ensembles across the UK and toured Europe with the Academy of St Martin-in-the Fields. He has performed in some of Europe's most prestigious concert venues including the Barbican, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Theater an der Wien in Vienna. Paul worked as soloist with many choirs and choral societies. He retired from singing in his late twenties to pursue other musical goals.
He achieved a first class honours degree in music and education and diplomas in pipe organ, piano, singing, piano teaching, composition, music theory and singing teaching. Paul is currently Head of Music at St Alban's Roman Catholic High School and (during the last fourteen years) has led the Junior Choir on concert tours to Disneyland fourteen times and the Senior Choir on tours to Prague, Barcelona (twice), Warsaw, Amsterdam (thrice), New York and Normandy.
In addition to his duties at St Alban's works for Gwent Music Support Service and teaches privately. Paul particularly enjoys his work with the Council for Music in Hospitals with whom he has performed with his wife the length and breadth of Wales.
In 2010 Paul succeeded Martin Hodson MBE as Musical Director of the Coleg Gwent Chorale and conducted his inaugural concert with the choir and the Welsh Sinfonia in May 2011.
He has conducted the Stagecoach Youth Choir of Wales at concerts at Symphony Hall Birmingham, Llandaff Cathedral, Wales Millennium Centre, twice in Disneyland and at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End. Success as a choral conductor came in 2008 when St Alban's Senior Choir won the Award of the Head of the Jury at the Warsaw International Choral Competition and the Stagecoach Youth Choir won the Stagecoach International Choral Festival at Symphony Hall.
Paul has composed some one hundred pieces of choral and organ music, of which several have been performed around the world in a variety of worship environments.
He is married to Welsh soprano Jill Padfield. Paul and Jill celebrated the birth of their first child Matthew in April 2012.
Paul is a Certified Teacher of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in Vocal Teaching and was awarded the status with the highest possible classification of 'Excellent'. He also recently attained the Diploma of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in Vocal Teaching and passed the qualification with Distinction. Paul has completed the Level 1 and 2 courses in the Estill Voice Model and is currently studying for an MA in Voice Pedagogy.
Paul is the author of a series of fifty books called Pete the Bee and ten stories that he wrote for his son during lockdown called Will and His Dog.
In 2017 Paul was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London and current projects include creating a comprehensive, free resource for music theory students on the web and a series of books (following on from 'Bedolorrog the Bog Frog') with an educational narrative about the natural world to add to his existing authorship.
In the little free time that he has, Paul enjoys fooling around with his son, spending time with his wife and trading on the stock markets.