Craig Paré

Craig Paré, Professor of Music, conducts the DePauw University Band. Appointed to the School of Music faculty in 1993, Dr. Paré teaches conducting, applied percussion, and directs the instrumental music education program, which includes teaching music education courses and the supervision of music student teachers. In addition, he is a faculty adviser for the DePauw chapter of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME—formerly MENC). Dr. Paré earned a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from Barrington College, a Master of Music in percussion performance from Florida State University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in wind conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he was a student of Eugene Migliaro Corporon.

Under his direction, the DePauw University Band has produced eight critically-acclaimed compact discs through its CD Recording Project, issued commercially on the Mark Masters label. The University Band’s CD recordings can also be found on the Naxos Online Music Library. The University Band has also recorded wind works for the Kjos Publishing Company and Daehn Publications. The ensemble has been host to world-renowned musicians including composers Joseph Schwantner, Augusta Read Thomas, Libby Larsen, George Crumb, Chen Yi, Joan Tower, Samuel Adler, Richard Hundley, and James Beckel, along with conductors Eugene Migliaro Corporon, Jack Stamp, Charles Neidich, Roby George, Joan deAlbuquerque, Mark McCoy, and John Lynch. Dr. Paré’s teaching at DePauw has been recognized through the receipt of three preeminent awards: the John Price Durban John Distinguished Professorship, the DePauw University/United Methodist Church Exemplary Teaching Award, and the Joan Westmen Battey Distinguished Teaching Award.  Dr. Paré is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda and Phi Beta Mu, and an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi.  His professional affiliations include the College Band Directors National Association, Indiana Bandmasters Association, National Association for Music Education, and the Percussive Arts Society.

Prior to his appointment at DePauw University, Dr. Paré served as Director of Bands at Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado. He has also taught at Florida State University, Simpson College, Valdosta State College, and Barrington College. His public school teaching experience includes elementary, middle and high school ensembles in the Lincoln and Barrington, Rhode Island school systems. In addition, Dr. Paré was also the co-founder of the Cincinnati Youth Wind Ensemble, a select wind group comprised of the finest high school woodwind, brass, and percussion students in the Ohio/Indiana/Kentucky region. He continues to be in demand as a clinician and guest conductor with many middle school and high school bands throughout the country. As a writer, he is a contributor to the Teaching Music through Performance in Band series of music education texts published by G.I.A. Publications.

As a performer, Dr. Paré studied timpani and percussion with Roland Kohloff, principal timpanist of the New York Philharmonic, Gary Werdesheim at Florida State University, and has participated in master classes with Cloyd Duff, Stanley Leonard, and Richard Brown. Currently principal timpanist of the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra, he has also served as principal timpanist and percussionist with the Spoleto Festival USA, Charleston, South Carolina, and the Festival Dei Due Mondi, Spoleto, Italy; timpanist and percussionist with the Terre Haute, Savannah, Tallahassee, and Jacksonville Symphony Orchestras, the Brooklyn Lyric Opera and Des Moines Metro Opera, and the Connecticut and Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestras; and as guest percussionist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. The Cincinnati Wind Symphony and the Philharmonia à Vent Wind Orchestra are two renowned wind groups with which he has performed and recorded. He has also recorded for Hal Leonard Publications and is featured as timpani soloist on the DePauw University Band's fourth compact disc, Wind Journey, performing the Concertino for Timpani, Winds and Percussion by Donald. H. White. 

Dr. Paré has taught percussion at a variety of levels, from elementary and middle school through college. He has been a member of the percussion faculties at Florida State University, Barrington College, Valdosta State College, Simpson College, and Western State College.

Paré studies Kenpo Goju-Ryu Karate and has earned the rank of Brown/Black Belt, 1st Kyu as a student of Master Steve St. Pierre (9th Dan, Kyudan) and Sensei Niki St. Pierre (3rd Dan, Sandan) at the All-American Karate Academy dojo, Greencastle, Indiana.