Paul Shelor
QAYC Concert Choir Director
Paul Shelor completed his BA degree in Music at Clarke College (Dubuque, IA) in 1989. In 1992 he received a Masters of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Missouri Conservatory of Music (Kansas City), where he studied under the renowned choral conductor and teacher Dr. Eph Ehly. Since 1992, Mr. Shelor began his career as the general music and choir director at QJHS. He now is the director of choirs at Quincy Sr. High School.
As a vocalist, Shelor has performed numerous supporting roles with Quincy’s Muddy River Opera Company including most recently as Morales in Bizet’s Carmen. He has sung major solo parts with the Quincy Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, including the role of Elijah in Mendelssohn’s Elijah in 2000, and the bass solos in the 1997 and 2002 performances of Handel’s Messiah. In April 2012, Mr. Shelor was the baritone soloist for John Rutter’s Mass of the Children, performed by the QSO and Chorus, and the Quincy Area Youth Chorus. Shelor has served as the chorus master for several MROC productions, and also serves as guest conductor for Quincy’s Piano Ensemble Festival.
First conducting the QAYC’s Kinderchor in 1995, Shelor was appointed as the Concert Choir conductor in 2000. In 2009 he took singers from both groups to England, where they concertized and had a workshop with the English choral conductor Jonathan Willcocks. Paul and his wife Mary, a piano teacher and collaborative pianist, frequently work as as a team in area music endeavors. Paul is an avid and enthusiastic table tennis player and biker. He enjoys helping Mary with her responsibilities as area coordinator for Operation Christmas Child.
