The University of Wisconsin-Superior Music Department will present international artist Paul Cort, baritone, accompanied by Teresa Vaughan, piano, on Tuesday, April 8, at 7:30 p.m. in Webb Recital Hall as part of the University Recital Series.

Born in Guyana, Cort began his musical training with renowned musician Edith Pieters. He taught at Bishops’ High School and Queen’s College in Guyana before accepting a scholarship to study in the USA in 2001. In 2002, he placed second in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) auditions, and in 2003, he earned Magna Cum Laude honors and won the Genevieve Stalberg Award at Concordia College. In 2004, Cort received the Robert L. Mungar Scholarship and earned a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from Wartburg College. He later studied with internationally acclaimed opera singer Simon Estes, earning a Master of Music in voice performance from Boston University in 2008.

For his UW-Superior recital, Songs from the Old World to the New!, Cort will explore European traditions of singing and composition with works by George Frederic Handel, Stefano Donaudy, Henri Duparc, and Richard Strauss. The recital will conclude with pieces by Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin, finishing with selections from Guyana.

Cort has performed in major venues across the USA as a member of the Concordia College, Wartburg College and Boston University choirs. He has toured Europe and South Africa with Simon Estes and the Wartburg Choir and performed in over a dozen countries. Notable performances include baritone solos in Messiah and Fauré’s Requiem, as well as the premiere of David Cyzak’s A Free Bird Leaps. His opera workshop roles include Belcore, Don Alfonso, Papageno and Federico.

Cort served as director of the National Choir of Antigua and Barbuda and was a tenured assistant professor of music at the University of the Southern Caribbean from 2011 to 2022. Since 2012, he has also been the assistant chief examiner for the Caribbean Examinations Council. Currently, Cort is a second-year DMA candidate and graduate assistant at the University of Iowa, studying under Elise Des Champs. He is married to Malaika, and they have three children.

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the door with cash, check or credit card. Webb Recital Hall is in Holden Fine and Applied Arts, 1805 Catlin Ave.