"I write
MUSIC
to hear sounds I've
never heard."
JOHN CAGE
Paul Rudolph is a musician, composer, arranger, music director, 3-time Emmy-award winning music editor, and instrument-builder.
For his work on Sesame Street, Paul was nominated for a 2009 and 2013 Emmy in Music Direction, and has won 3 Emmys for Sound Editing as Music Editor in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Since 2008 he has been the vocal music director / vocal arranger for the multiple Emmy-winning children's program (12 wins for Outstanding Pre-School Series, 3 Primetime Emmy wins, 2020 Emmy win for the 50th Special), and has worked with numerous guests artists including Elvis Costello, Jason Mraz, Billy Porter (2022 Emmy Winner, Outstanding original song "Friends With A Penguin"), Sia (2018 Emmy Winner Outstanding Original Song "Song About Songs") Janelle Monae (2015 Emmy Winner "The Power Of Yet"), Audra McDonald, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Usher (2014 Emmy-nominated "ABC Song"), Bruno Mars (2012 Emmy-nominated "Don't Give Up"), Jimmy Fallon, and the U. S. Marine Corps Band.
He also composes music for Sesame Street, including street stories, Sesame Place live shows games, apps, he directs voice-over and looping sessions, records Muppet character and guest vocals, and music-directs live performances that include Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra (2019), and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (since 2009). His compositions have also been featured on TocaTV for Toca Boca. Other composition credits include indie films "Live Or Die In La Honda" (Amazon Prime), "Nature Calls" (Amazon Prime), and the short film "Bias Tape" by Lynette Taylor, which received numerous accolades in festivals when released in 2018.
Additional credits include:
Music arranger, composer and vocal music director for Tonies Box NatGeo and Sesame Street content.
Composer, music director, All Hallows' Eve, written by Martin P. Robinson, premiered 2019, NYC.
Vocal Music Director / recordist, "Julie's Greenroom" (Netflix), a Jim Henson production starring Julie Andrews and a slew of celebrities including Carol Burnett, Tituss Burgess, Idina Menzel, David Hyde Pierce, Alec Baldwin, Sara Bareilles, and others.
Vocal Music Director for Nature Cat (PBS), working with SNL cast members Taran Killam, Kate McKinnon, Bobby Moynihan, Kenan Thompson, Chris Parnell, and Fred Armisen, as well as comedienne Kate Micucci.
Assistant Music Director, composer, Muppets Tonight (ABC)
From 1997-2008 Paul worked with the prolific commercial composing team of Trivers/Myers Music, where he honed his conducting skills during sessions with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and top studio musicians. He also gained vast experience as a ProTools audio engineer and editor, completing hundreds of projects with clients ranging from Ford to United Airlines.
As a percussionist / instrument builder, his unique found-object instruments have been featured in film, television, and commercial work, including the band OK Go's Super Bowl commercial/music video "Needing/Getting" for Chevrolet, and New Line Cinema's feature film "Rendition". His percussion performance art group GLANK has been entertaining audiences of all ages since its formation in 2002.
Paul's work in the music industry began in 1995 with composer Richard Gibbs, assisting on the Tracey Ullman Show, commercial and film projects, and as assistant music director for Muppets Tonight on ABC, where Paul met his wife Leslie Carrara-Rudolph (Sesame Street's Abby Cadabby). They divide their time between Astoria, NY and Glendale, CA, and recently completed a full-length CD for Leslie's show Wake Up Your Weird.
Paul attended the University of Illinois where he received a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education and a M.A. in Music Composition. He is originally from Normal, Illinois.
MUSIC DIRECTION / ARRANGING
*Emmy-nominated vocal music director for Sesame Street on-air
content and live performances
*Swingin' On Sesame Street, live performances with the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis
*Julie's Greenroom, with Julie Andrews and guests
*Nature Cat, featuring SNL cast members
*Helpsters, Apple+, numerous guest artists
*Conductor for numerous national commercials including United Airlines featuring Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang
*Director / producer of independent projects with Jerry Nelson, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, GLANK
*Voice-over / music director for Sesame Street toy and game content
*Conductor for the AMP Millennium Film at the Nokia Theater, NY
COMPOSITION /
SOUND DESIGN
Clients include:
*Sesame Street
*Sesame Place
*Tonies Box
*Julie's Greenroom - Jim Henson/Netflix
*Toca Boca
*Spoonicorn - YouTube, composition, sound design
*Indie films and shorts: "Bias Tape" (official selection, 2018 Katra Film Festival, Blowup International Film Festival, Defy Film Festival, KinoFilm Manchester International Film Festival, New York No Limits Film Series, Short To The Point film fest),
"Nature Calls", "Live or Die in La Honda"
*The Jim Henson Company
*Heather Henson
*Jerry Nelson, Truro Daydreams
*Leslie Carrara-Rudolph
*Martin P. Robinson's "All Hallow's Eve"
*Tim Lagasse
*Sox News pilot
*Discovery Channel
*SpeakEasy FX
*Patrick Bristow
*O'Neill Puppetery Conference
*Circle X Theater Los Angeles
*GLANK
RECORDING / MUSIC EDITING
*3 Emmy Awards (2016, 2017, 2018) for Outstanding Sound Editing as music editor for Sesame Street.
*Voice-over director for Sesame Street content, including:
"Elmo's Wonderful World" - all Smartie v.o. direction and recording
"Cookie Monster's Foodie Truck" v.o. recording
*Loopin/ADR recordist/director, Sesame Street, seasons 41-51
*Music Editor credits include numerous commercials and United Airlines on-air content
*ProTools expertise since 1999.
*Unique found-object percussion collection featured in film, TV, and commercial work, and GLANK
SKILLS / TECHNICAL
* ProTools: recording, editing, mixing, audio restoration
* Logic Pro - composition
* Sibelius - music transcription
* Conducting various ensembles both live and to click track
* Music Direction: instrumental, vocal, all ages - live performance and in-studio production
* PhotoShop, Final Cut Express, Adobe Premiere Elements
* Wire-feed welding
* Teaching music since 1984
* Classically-trained percussionist, vibraphone emphasis
*Quadcopter photography/videography,
est. 2016