Paul Woodiel

Leonard Bernstein described Paul Woodiel as “a first-class performer – one who combines spirituality with intellect”. A busy New York-based purveyor of a broad range of violin and fiddle styles, he has been a featured recitalist at the 92nd St. Y, the Miller Theater at Columbia University, The Caramoor International Festival, and the New York Festival of Song at Carnegie Hall, and has appeared as soloist at music festivals from Bard College in New York to the red rocks of Moab, Utah.

A three-time New England Fiddle Contest champion, he is a widely celebrated exponent of traditional fiddle styles, and has taught traditional fiddle at Wesleyan University and elsewhere. Also in the traditional vein, he performs across the US and abroad with the Scottish dance band Local Hero.

Paul’s diverse freelance career finds him equally at home in the concert hall, the theatre, the recording studio, as well as a player for dancing of many sorts. A Broadway pit veteran, he has dozens of productions to his credit, including Ragtime, Sunset Boulevard, West Side Story, and Sting’s The Last Ship. A three-time New England Fiddle Contest champion, he performs widely with pianist Susie Petrov and piper/flutist Chris Layer as the Scottish trio Local Hero. He has performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, 92nd St. Y, the Miller Theater at Columbia, The Bard Festival, the Moab Music Festival, and the Sherman Chamber Ensemble. As a studio player, has worked as a mercenary on countless advertising jingles, from sugary “Irish” breakfast cereals to dubious weight loss medications. His many film credits include Woody Allen films and Carter Burwell scores, and he is heard on recordings for Tony Bennett, Sting, Fall Out Boy, and over 20 Broadway cast albums. Paul began fiddling as a teen, playing contras with Ralph Sweet and Jim Gregory and ECD demos with CT based Reel Nutmeg as early as 1977. He has enjoyed a long relationship with social dance fiddling, particularly for English, Scottish, and contra dancing, as well as vintage and ragtime era genres.