Paul O'Dette

Paul O'Dette
Name	Paul O'Dette
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth date	1954
Birth place	Cincinnati, Ohio
Genres	Early music, Renaissance, Baroque
Occupations	Lutenist, conductor, musicologist, teacher
Instruments	Lute, theorbo, guitar

Paul O'Dette is an American lutenist, conductor, and musicologist noted for his interpretations of Renaissance and Baroque lute repertoire. He has performed with leading ensembles and soloists across Europe and North America, and has contributed substantially to the revival of lute music through recordings, editions, and teaching at conservatories and universities. His work intersects with major figures and institutions in early music performance, scholarship, and recording.

Early life and education

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, O'Dette studied in the United States and Europe, drawing influence from teachers and traditions associated with Gustav Leonhardt, Wanda Landowska, August Wenzinger, Christopher Hogwood, and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. He pursued academic studies linking recital practice to scholarship at institutions connected with Yale University, Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music, and conservatories influenced by the Royal College of Music, Conservatoire de Paris, and Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. His formative contacts extended to performers and scholars such as Julian Bream, Andreas Staier, Ton Koopman, Masaaki Suzuki, and William Christie, situating him within networks that include Les Arts Florissants, The English Concert, and Academy of Ancient Music.

Career

O'Dette's career encompasses solo performance, ensemble direction, and collaboration with major early music ensembles like Concerto Palatino, Freiburger Barockorchester, Il Giardino Armonico, Europa Galante, and La Petite Bande. He has worked with singers and instrumentalists such as James Bowman, Emma Kirkby, Dawn Upshaw, Kathleen Battle, Simon Rattle, and John Eliot Gardiner. His appearances at festivals and series link him to institutions including the Glyndebourne Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Salzburg Festival, BBC Proms, Tanglewood Festival, and Verbier Festival. He has collaborated on projects with ensembles associated with Peter Phillips, Philippe Herreweghe, Jordi Savall, Paul McCreesh, and Trevor Pinnock.

Repertoire and performance style

O'Dette's repertoire ranges from Renaissance vihuela and lute repertory to Baroque continuo and solo works by composers such as John Dowland, Silvius Leopold Weiss, J.S. Bach, Francesco da Milano, and Sébastien Le Camus. His performance style emphasizes historical technique and informed improvisation, engaging with sources connected to Ottaviano Petrucci, Pierre Attaingnant, Diego Ortiz, Gioseffo Zarlino, and Marin Mersenne. Interpretative choices reflect scholarship linked to editors and theorists like Donald Francis Tovey, Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, C.M. Palisca, and Howard Mayer Brown, and interact with performance practices discussed by Bruce Haynes, Frederick Neumann, and Robert Donington.

Recordings and discography

O'Dette's discography includes recordings of lute music that have appeared on labels associated with Decca Records, Harmonia Mundi, Teldec, Claves Records, DG Archiv, BIS Records, and Nonesuch Records. His albums feature repertoire by John Dowland, Anthony Holborne, Alfonso Ferrabosco, Thomas Campion, Robert Johnson, and Luys de Narváez. He has produced thematic recordings linked to periods and places such as Elizabethan era, Stuart period, Italian Renaissance, Spanish Golden Age, and French Baroque, and his discs have been reviewed in outlets associated with Gramophone (magazine), The New York Times, The Guardian (London), and The Boston Globe.

Teaching and academic appointments

O'Dette has held teaching posts and visiting professorships at institutions including the Eastman School of Music, Yale School of Music, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Royal Conservatory of The Hague, Conservatorium van Amsterdam, and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He has conducted masterclasses at festivals and schools such as Juilliard School, Royal Academy of Music, Curtis Institute of Music, Royal Northern College of Music, Oberlin Conservatory, Conservatoire de Paris, and Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His pedagogical work connects to pedagogues and colleagues like Daniël van Goens, Paul Badura-Skoda, Murray Perahia, Andrés Segovia, and Segovia Foundation-related activities.

Awards and honors

O'Dette's recognitions include prizes and nominations linked to institutions and awards such as the Grammy Awards, Gramophone Awards, Early Music America prizes, and honors associated with Royal Philharmonic Society. His recordings and contributions have been acknowledged by bodies including American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Endowment for the Arts, Guggenheim Foundation, and festivals like Aix-en-Provence Festival and Stratford Festival. He has been cited in directories and reference works such as Oxford Music Online, International Who's Who in Classical Music, and prize lists maintained by BBC Music Magazine.

Category:Lutenists Category:American classical musicians