Early Years
Paul Gibson was born on June 16, 1952, in Sacramento, California. A few years later, his family moved to the small village of Chitray, France, near the airbase at Châteauroux where his father worked for the U.S. Air Force. Gibson experienced his first liturgical music - Latin hymns and chants - in the local parish church. On special occasions, his father took him to the nearby abbey at Fontgombault (founded 1091) to hear the Benedictine monks sing the mass in Solesmes-style Gregorian chant, experiences which were later to have a significant impact on Gibson's compositional approach.

After returning to the States, the Gibson family settled in San Bernardino, California, where Paul attended the local Catholic grammar schools. Around the age of eight, he began piano lessons and was inspired by biographies of Schubert and Beethoven to compose, his first pieces being short studies for piano. He continued formal piano lessons, including a healthy diet of Bach and Bartók, through the eighth grade.

Education
In high school - first at St. Thomas Aquinas in San Bernardino and then at Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance, California - Paul Gibson's interest turned to pop and rock music, and he became increasingly involved as a songwriter and performer, singing and playing keyboards, flute, and guitar.

He entered Mount St. Mary's College (Los Angeles) in 1970 as a Music Composition major, studying theory, composition, and arranging with Matt Doran, a student of Ernst Toch. During these years he also began choral singing (under Paul Salamunovich) and studied Music History (with MaryAnn Bonino), developing a fascination with and love for Medieval and Renaissance music.

After graduating summa cum laude from Mount St. Mary's in 1974, Gibson attended California State University, Northridge, studying composition and orchestration, primarily with Frank Campo and Aurelio de la Vega. Though his studies focused on post-Webernian serialists and the Polish school of Penderecki and Lutoslawski, his compositions tended to reflect the conservative bent of the music he sang in various choruses under Paul Salamunovich, John Alexander, and later, William Hall. During this time, he also began his professional church music career, playing organ, leading a youth (guitar) group, and singing as cantor for St. Monica's Church in Santa Monica.

Working in Music
After earning his Masters of Music degree, he began an extended period of freelance work in a wide range of music-related activities, including singing, piano tuning, teaching, music criticism, and working at KUSC-FM, a leading classical music public radio station associated with the University of Southern California where he also studied composition with Ian Krouse.

In 1985 he joined the Los Angeles Master Chorale with whom he has sung under three Music Directors: John Currie, Paul Salamunovich, and Grant Gershon. In addition, he performed in the Chorale with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under such conductors as Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and André Previn, in repertoire ranging from Bach to Ligeti. For several years, Gibson also sang in the chorus of the Los Angeles Opera. His freelance singing work has ranged from a performance of Tallis' 40-voice motet Spem in alium with the Tallis Scholars to a late-night recording session with Rod Stewart.

Highlights and Milestones
In 1987, prominent Catholic musician Frank Brownstead commissioned Gibson to arrange the hymns that concluded the two main liturgies of Pope John Paul II's visit to Los Angeles, at the L.A. Coliseum and at Dodger Stadium. These hymn concertatos for brass, organ, and choir became his first published works, through Oregon Catholic Press (OCP). Gibson has been selected twice in the Pacific Composers Forum Commissioning Circle Program and was a winner in the Fifth Annual PCF Competition for New Music.

In 1993, G.I.A. released A Mass of Life, a critically acclaimed CD collection of his sacred music, described by author and syndicated classical radio host Jim Svejda as "...one of those rare contemporary works which manages to be simultaneously provocative, challenging and instantly approachable...a consistently rewarding, deeply moving work by one of the most humane composers of his generation." In 1996, Gibson took part in the first Composers Symposium of the Oregon Bach Festival, where three of his choral works were performed and where he studied with John Harbison. For its 15th anniversary in 2001, Anne Tomlinson and the Los Angeles Children's Chorus commissioned Gibson to compose Suite: Alice Through a Looking-Glass, a multi-movement setting of Lewis Carroll texts. Portions of it were included in Sing!, the Academy Award-nominated documentary about the chorus. In November 2005, Gibson's It Fell Upon the High Midnight was named one of two winners in the annual Christmas Carol Competition sponsored by the American Composers Forum and VocalEssence, whose performances were recorded for broadcast on public radio.

Additional Honors
Paul Gibson has received the Owen Award from Oregon Catholic Press for "outstanding achievement in the field of liturgical music." CREATOR magazine named his Veni Sancte Spiritus one of the ten best sacred works of 2001. The Los Angeles Times has acknowledged his work as "music of vaulting exaltation," and his choral works have been broadcast on hundreds of radio stations across North America. Paul Salamunovich, Grant Gershon, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Philip Brunelle and VocalEssence, the Debussy Trio, the Los Angeles Children's Chorus, Richard Proulx, Zephyr, the Los Angeles Chamber Singers, and the De Angelis Vocal Ensemble are among the many artists who have performed his work, which is published by Alliance, E.C. Schirmer, G.I.A. Publications, Oregon Catholic Press, and Morning Star.

Gibson sings with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and lives with his wife Carol and pets (2 dogs, 3 cats) in Downey, California.