Mr Paul Roussell
Member, Baritone
Chorus Details
| Office(s): | General Member |
| Founding member? | Yes |
Bio/Profile/Yearbook
Paul started singing at the age of 6 as a boy soprano, and sang in numerous choirs, concerts and operas.
While studying Chemistry and Computers at Victoria University of Wellington, I became a founder member of the Bach Choir of Wellington, and performed in numerous concerts.
Later, I sang in a great number of choirs in Wellington, New Zealand and even sang in the World Festival Choir's two performances of Guiseppe Verdi's "Missa di Requiem" in Verona, Italy. The event featured Luciano Pavarotti as Tenor, with a cast of other great soloists, Loren Maazel directing, and a choir of around 3,000 singers.
In 1992, whilst a member of some 4 choirs in Wellington, I was approched to come along to the Harbour Capital Chorus to see what Barbershop singing was all about. The rest is history, and for the last 20 years, this genre has been the focus of my musical attention!
My first quartet, Downunder Alliance, nearly won NZ Open Gold on its first outing, but our lead lost his voice between the Semis and the Final. That lead, Bill Thompson went onto get an international Seniors Gold in Texoma Sound in 2005. Following that, I sang in Capital Alliance and Vocal Accord quartets before leaving for Australia.
On arriving in Australia, I joined River City Clippers and competed with them at Regionals and Nationals. During that time I also sang and competed in a quartet called Sound Investment with John Dam, Ray Smyth, Col Taylor and the late Col Chapman.
I was lucky enough to join The Blenders just in time to compete at the Denver internationals. I stayed on with the Blenders, competing in many contests with them until late 2011.
Five years ago, I joined with Derek Cosburn, Ray Smyth and Avon Phillips to form Benchmark. When Avon later had voice problems, we recruited Tom Percy to the quartet.
Benchmark, with Tom, created history by being the first quartet ever to win both the Seniors and the Open gold medals in our first Sunshine Region contests. This was repeated for the next two years, and at the Hobart AAMBS Nationals in 2009 Benchmark won the Australian Seniors title.
Since then, Benchmark has won the National Seniors gold again and the Pan Pacific Seniors gold at the 2011 Brisbane convention. Benchmark has now won a total of 5 Seniors and 4 Open regional gold medals, with the last of these being at Singfest 2012 with Mark Penman singing bass.
In 2011, Benchmark entered Australia's Got Talent, and made it all the way to the Grand Finals! Some 2.5 million Australians saw that final episode, bringing the sound and spirit of barbershop to over 10% of the Australian public.
I am a certified Music Judge in the Australian Guild of Barbershop Judges, and also have experience as a Musical Director. I enjoy quartet coaching and singing.
While studying Chemistry and Computers at Victoria University of Wellington, I became a founder member of the Bach Choir of Wellington, and performed in numerous concerts.
Later, I sang in a great number of choirs in Wellington, New Zealand and even sang in the World Festival Choir's two performances of Guiseppe Verdi's "Missa di Requiem" in Verona, Italy. The event featured Luciano Pavarotti as Tenor, with a cast of other great soloists, Loren Maazel directing, and a choir of around 3,000 singers.
In 1992, whilst a member of some 4 choirs in Wellington, I was approched to come along to the Harbour Capital Chorus to see what Barbershop singing was all about. The rest is history, and for the last 20 years, this genre has been the focus of my musical attention!
My first quartet, Downunder Alliance, nearly won NZ Open Gold on its first outing, but our lead lost his voice between the Semis and the Final. That lead, Bill Thompson went onto get an international Seniors Gold in Texoma Sound in 2005. Following that, I sang in Capital Alliance and Vocal Accord quartets before leaving for Australia.
On arriving in Australia, I joined River City Clippers and competed with them at Regionals and Nationals. During that time I also sang and competed in a quartet called Sound Investment with John Dam, Ray Smyth, Col Taylor and the late Col Chapman.
I was lucky enough to join The Blenders just in time to compete at the Denver internationals. I stayed on with the Blenders, competing in many contests with them until late 2011.
Five years ago, I joined with Derek Cosburn, Ray Smyth and Avon Phillips to form Benchmark. When Avon later had voice problems, we recruited Tom Percy to the quartet.
Benchmark, with Tom, created history by being the first quartet ever to win both the Seniors and the Open gold medals in our first Sunshine Region contests. This was repeated for the next two years, and at the Hobart AAMBS Nationals in 2009 Benchmark won the Australian Seniors title.
Since then, Benchmark has won the National Seniors gold again and the Pan Pacific Seniors gold at the 2011 Brisbane convention. Benchmark has now won a total of 5 Seniors and 4 Open regional gold medals, with the last of these being at Singfest 2012 with Mark Penman singing bass.
In 2011, Benchmark entered Australia's Got Talent, and made it all the way to the Grand Finals! Some 2.5 million Australians saw that final episode, bringing the sound and spirit of barbershop to over 10% of the Australian public.
I am a certified Music Judge in the Australian Guild of Barbershop Judges, and also have experience as a Musical Director. I enjoy quartet coaching and singing.
