Dr. Paul Woodford (B. Mus. Ed., B.Ed., M.Mus.Ed, Ph.D.) is Professor and former Chair of the Department of Music Education at the Don Wright Faculty of Music, the University of Western Ontario, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in philosophy and history of music education and wind conducting. His interests in music education philosophy, sociology, educational politics and the history of music in Newfoundland and Labrador have led to many professional publications, including four books on the history of music in Newfoundland and Labrador and a series of CBC Radio documentaries of historic Newfoundland composers and their music during the mid-1980s. His fifth and most recent book, Democracy and Music Education: Liberalism, Ethics, and the Politics of Practice (Indiana University Press, 2005), has been described by leading international scholars in the field as one of the most influential books of the past decade. Dr. Woodford is a former Chair of the International Society for the Philosophy of Music Education and is on the advisory boards of several leading professional journals, including the British Journal of Music Education, the American Council for Research in Music Education Bulletin, and the Philosophy of Music Education Review. In 2006 Dr. Woodford was named Faculty Scholar by the University of Western Ontario in recognition of his contributions to teaching, scholarship and service.

A native of St. John’s, Paul attended St. Bonaventure’s Grammar School and Brother Rice High School (where he played in the bands under the direction of Jim Prowse and Lester Goulding) and performed in the Calos Youth Orchestra and the St. John’s Symphony. Following undergraduate studies in music education at Mount Allison University (1972-74) and the University of Toronto (1974-78), he taught in Placentia (1978-9) and then in Corner Brook (1979-81) before beginning graduate studies at the University of Western Ontario (1981-83). This was followed by six years of teaching at St. Edward’s School in Kelligrews and at Holy Spirit School in Long Pond, Manuels. His doctorate in music education from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois was completed in 1994.

During his years of teaching in Newfoundland, Paul directed the Memorial University Music Camp (1980), co-founded and directed the former St. John’s Roman Catholic School Board District Band, and also co-founded and directed the Eastern Music Camp of Mount Pearl (with Gerard Walsh). Before joining the faculty of the University of Western Ontario in 1994, Dr. Woodford taught at Mount Allison University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, and the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. In 1998 Dr. Woodford co-founded (with Betty Anne Younker) the University of Western Ontario New Horizons adult band program. This program is now one of the largest and most successful of its kind in North America.