Bio
Paul Dietrich has been described as “an apt bandleader, an exceptional composer, and a superlative performer” (All About Jazz) and “a skilled composer” (JazzTrail) and his music has been praised as “stunningly beautiful” (Audiophile Audition) and “captivating” (Chicago Jazz Magazine).
A composer, trumpet player and educator based in the Midwest, Dietrich has been performing his own compositions in various groups under his direction since 2012. Dietrich has released five albums of his own music with ensembles of various sizes, including two with quintet, one with quartet, one with a nine-piece ensemble that fused a traditional jazz quintet with a string quartet, and the 18-piece Paul Dietrich Jazz Ensemble, whose 2019 album Forward featured the world-renowned drummer Clarence Penn and was hailed as "stunningly beautiful" by Audiophile Audition.
In demand as a composer, Dietrich has completed commissions for schools and organizations including Lawrence University’s Jazz Weekend, The Green Lake Festival of Music, Ripon College, Madison College with Germany's Edgar Knecht Trio, The Mount Horeb Middle School Jazz Festival, The UW-Whitewater Brass Quintet, the Water City Jazz Orchestra, and various high schools throughout Wisconsin. In 2017, Paul was commissioned by the Wisconsin Union Theater in Madison to write an extended work in honor of the Isthmus Jazz Festival’s 30th Anniversary. This piece was premiered at the festival in June 2017 by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Jazz Orchestra. Paul’s pieces were performed as part of a cultural exchange program in Camagüey, Cuba in 2019, and have been performed throughout the United States and by luminaries such as Miguel Zenon, Phil Woods, Greg Ward, Marshall Gilkes, Russ Johnson, and Jon Irabagon.
Paul has twice been the recipient of the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium’s Artistic Development Grant. In 2017, he wrote the four-part suite “Forward,” inspired by the sights and sounds of his home state, which became the core of his 2019 album of the same name. In 2020, Paul received a grant to write and perform a project for a nine-piece ensemble including a string quartet, which debuted in late 2021 and was released on the album 5+4, on Shifting Paradigm Records in October 2023. His most recent album, A Small Patch of Earth, was recored with his Elemental Quartet and was also released on Shifting Paradigm Records in 2024.
As an educator, Paul has been on the music faculty at Ripon College since 2021, where he directs the jazz ensemble and jazz combo and teaches private lessons. In 2026, Dietrich joined the faculty at Lawrence University, where he teaches jazz trumpet and directs the Lawrence University Jazz Ensemble. Additionally, Paul coordinated the jazz program at Prairie Music & Arts in Sun Prairie from 2014-2020, and directed the Jazz Orchestra at Madison East High School from 2016-18.
Paul holds a Bachelor’s degree in trumpet and jazz studies from Lawrence University (2010) and a Master’s degree in Jazz Studies from DePaul University (2012). While at DePaul, Dietrich wrote several pieces that were performed by the DePaul University Jazz Ensemble, including an arrangement of Phil Woods’ “Pairing Off,” which was recorded on the Jazzed Media release Right to Swing (2013) and featured Woods and the composer. Of this recording, All About Jazz called it “the sizzler of the disc, with a pronounced performance by the trumpeter.”
Paul is an active member of the Wisconsin music scene. In addition to his own groups, he has played regularly with many Madison-area groups including the Afrobeat ensemble Immigré, Michael Brenneis's Plutonium Ensemble, the Ben Ferris Octet, Grupo Candela, and numerous area big bands. He also served as the president of the non-profit organization Madison Music Collective from 2017-2020.
While not performing, writing, or teaching, Paul loves movies and is an avid Milwaukee Brewers fan. He also enjoys spending time with his wife, Jessica, who makes Paul the second best trumpet player in his own family; their young daughter, Paige; and their dog, Cooper.