Basler, Paul
Paul Basler (b. 1963) has been a Fulbright Senior Lecturer in Music at Kenyatta University (Nairobi, Kenya), Teacher of the Year (University of Florida), and a College of Fine Arts Research Foundation Professor (University of Florida).
Basler is currently an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Florida. Basler received his B.M. degree from Florida State University and his M.M., M.A., and D.M.A. degrees from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He has received teaching awards and citations from the University of Florida College of Fine Arts, SUNY-Stony Brook, Western Carolina University, Kenyatta University, and the Kenya Office of the President/Permanent Music Commission. Basler served as a Cultural Affairs Specialist for the United States Information Agency (USIA), serving Turkey and Kenya and is currently a Visiting Artist in Residence with the Dominican Republic's Ministry of Culture and the National Conservatory of Music.
Basler’s music has been received with enthusiastic acclaim throughout the world. The New York Times describes his music as "virtuosic and highly athletic." The recipient of the North Carolina Arts Council Composer's Fellowship and several National Endowment for the Arts Composer grants, Basler's compositions have been performed throughout the world, including at Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, the Spoleto Festival, the Symphony Hall in Chicago, the Kennedy Center, the National Theatres of the Dominican Republic and Kenya, Lincoln Center, the Sydney Opera House, the Aspen Music Festival, the Grand Teton Music Festival, and in Shanghai by the Shanghai Philharmonic.
One of the youngest persons to have ever been awarded a Senior Fulbright Lectureship, he served as the Composer-in-Residence and Conductor at the Sewanee Summer Music Center and Composer-in-Residence at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching.