Paul Little began playing the violin under the direction of Theresa Poland at the age of 12. Since then, he has taken great pride in becoming a talented and well-rounded musician.

After graduating from Brentwood High School on Long Island in 1998, Paul attended SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education. While at Crane, Paul studied under several world-renowned string players, including violinists John Lindsay, Sara Hersh, and Ioan Harea, violists Kenneth Martinson and Peter Bucknell, and cellist Mathias Wexler. In addition to improving his skills as a violinist, Paul also learned and became skilled at playing the viola and cello. He also studied classical guitar under Richard Stephan and flute under Kenneth Andrews. He credits Marsha Baxter, his professor in multicultural music, as his biggest influence for helping him to “open up to what music is truly about”.

In addition to his private studies at Crane, Paul was a member of the Crane Symphony Orchestra, participating in the Potsdam community’s annual Holiday Convocation concert, which is televised and broadcast on local public television and radio stations across Northern New York. He was also involved in the Opening Ceremonies for the now defunct Goodwill Games in the year 2000 at Lake Placid, New York. Throughout his undergraduate college career, Paul has played numerous orchestral and chamber works by Brahms, Mozart, Haydn, Mahler, Holst, Shostakovich, and countless other composers from throughout classical musical history.

Paul is also known in jazz and theater circles as well. While at Crane, he was a member of “El Norte Tropicale”, the Crane Latin Jazz Ensemble, which led to a chance meeting with trumpeter Arturo Sandoval. He also has performed in many musicals in pit ensembles, including “The Wiz”, “Camelot”, “Anything Goes”, “Guys and Dolls”, and “Les Miserables”, both in Potsdam and in theater companies throughout Long Island.

After earning his degree in 2003, Paul taught music in the North Babylon school district for 2 years. Feeling that performing and making music was his calling and not just teaching it, he left teaching behind and began work on his Masters Degree in Music Technology at Five Towns College, where he is currently studying under Michele Denton, whom he refers to as the teacher “who gave him the ball and let him run with it”. He is currently in preparation to perform Mozart’s Violin Concert No. 5 in A Major for an upcoming concert at Five Towns.

Paul joined the West Islip String Ensemble in 2006, and is also a member of the West Islip Symphony Orchestra.