Karel Paukert
"The true organ master " Nürnberger Zeitung, June 27, 2001
"Everything in this program betokened commanding intelligence and sensitivity, effortless virtuosity and a compelling sense of rhythm." The Kansas City Star, November 2, 1997.
"...organist Karel Paukert has played hundreds of programs that proclaimed his technical virtuosity and celebrated his versatile musicianship. Sunday afternoon in the Museum's Gartner Auditorium he also displayed his exciting brand of keyboard showmanship."
The Plain Dealer, October 1998"
"To everything, he brought bold artistry that conveyed the grandeur, mystery and color of the repertoire at hand-and foot."
The Plain Dealer, August 31, 2001
Karel Paukert is Curator Emeritus of Musical Arts at the Cleveland Museum of Art. He has performed over 800 recitals and organ demonstrations for young and old alike at the CMA.
Born in the Czech Republic, Karel Paukert is a graduate of the Prague Conservatory and the Royal Conservatory in Ghent, Belgium. His organ teachers included organists Jan Bedrich Krajs and Gabriel Verschraegen.
After leaving his native country, he was a principal oboist with the Iceland National Symphony Orchestra, and later a deputy organist of St. Bavon Cathedral in Ghent. He then immigrated to the United States and became a U.S. citizen in 1972. Karel Paukert has taught at Washington University in St. Louis, Northwestern University in Evanston, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
He continues to concertize extensively in prestigious venues in the US and abroad, and his performances have been acclaimed internationally for their perception, vibrancy and excitement. Among the venues at which he has performed, includes The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine (New York), Riverside Church (New York); The National Cathedral (Washington DC); the Alice Miallar Chapel (Chicago); Davies Hall (San Francisco); Royal Festival Hall (London); Notre Dame Cathedral (Paris); Sant Eustache (Paris); Gasteig (Munich); Saint Stephens (Vienna); Smetena Hall (Prague); Rudolfinum (Prague); Gewandhaus (Leipzig); Oskar Kyarka, (Stockholm); Upsalla Cathedral; as well as at the Prague Spring Festival and the Festival of Flanders, Festival Musica Sacra in Nuremberg. In addition, he is in constant demand as a judge for international organ competitions.
Since 1979, he has held the position of organist and choirmaster of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights.
He has received two awards for programming new music from The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)/ Chamber Music America (CMA), an award for Excellence in Sacred Music from the Cleveland Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, a Special Citation for Distinguished Service to the Arts from the Cleveland Arts Prize, a lifetime achievement award from the publishers of the magazine Northern Ohio Live, and a Distinguished Citizen Award from the city of University Heights, Ohio.