Paul Barrett

For over five decades Paul Barrett has been leading big bands. From his days as a volunteer in the Truro School band program while in high school and the Nova Scotia Teachers’ College, through his career of directing consistently gold medal Stage Bands at Cobequid Educational Centre, through trips to Cuba to direct big bands made up of Cuban and Canadian students to the present time as director of the Metro New Horizons Jazz Band, co-director of the Nova Scotia Youth Jazz Orchestra and leader of the Back Alley Big Band.
In 2015 it was the Back Alley Big Band who made the trip to Cuba to appear at the Karl Marx Theatre with Cuban singing sensation Augusto Enriquez, who is still with the band. The show was filmed by Cuban television and after the broadcast of the performance in Cuba the band was invited to Ottawa by the Cuban Ambassador to Canada. The band travelled to the nation’s capital to play for the Houses of Parliament.
Paul started playing Trombone in Grade 7 in the Truro Junior High School Band under the direction of J. Chalmers Doane. Shortly after starting the program Chalmers went to Boston to study and Ron MacKay took over. That was the beginnings of the CEC Band program which has produced so many successful professional musicians. Paul took an avid interest in Ron’s program, became his assistant director and soon after started arranging music for concert bands. After high school Paul attended the Nova Scotia Teachers’ College where he was in the last music specialist program and then a year at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Upon returning to Nova Scotia in 1971 Paul started directing bands and teaching music part time at CEC. From 1974 until 1976 he spent three years with jazz-rock fusion band HORSE as Trombonist/Pianist and songwriter with Wayne Nicholson. The band opened for The James Gang with Joe Walsh, The J. Geils Band, Ike and Tina Turner and Canadian band Chilliwack. After the band broke up Paul spent a number of years as a circuit elementary school and junior high school music teacher. During this tenure he established band programs at North River Elementary and Central Colchester Junior High.
In 1991 Ron MacKay retired from CEC and Paul began his 15-year career there as music teacher and band/jazz choir director. Upon retirement he taught part time at NSCC Waterfront Campus and then subsequently founded and directed the Nova New Horizons Band program which is still in operation today.
If you are interested in reading Paul’s full Curriculum Vitae it is here.