Cottonwood Community Band

KEITH PAULSON

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Keith Paulson grew up in Luverne, Minnesota and studied piano for 12 years. He inherited a single F French Horn from his father, who was a violinist and horn player in the US Navy before World War 2. Keith played the horn for 6 years and performed in numerous recitals.  After High School he attended St. Olaf College and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a major in mathematics. He also sang 2nd Bass under Olaf Christiansen as a member of the St. Olaf Choir. While in the St Olaf Choir Keith sang with the choir on tours of the East and West Coasts of the USA and a tour of Iceland under the auspices of the State Department. After graduation from St. Olaf College, Keith moved to Los Angeles in 1958. He married his wife, Ruth, in 1959. They are still together after 63 years!

During the summer between High School and College Keith attended the Interlochen Music Camp in Michigan. He took French Horn and piano lessons, played a double horn in the Orchestra under Joseph Maddy, sang in a chorus and an operetta and performed piano recitals. Keith thinks that this was an excellent way for him to prepare for college.

Keith graduated from UCLA with a master's degree in mathematics. Ruth and Keith moved to Redlands, CA in 1962 where Keith was a mathematics instructor for 2 years at The University of Redlands. In 1964 he joined The Aerospace Corp and worked for them for 30 years. Aerospace is a  Federal Contract Research Center created by the US Congress to support the Air Force in missile and space activities. While living at home on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, he was auditioned by Roger Wagner and accepted as a 1st tenor in the Los Angeles Master Chorale. He performed with the Chorale for 15 years and sang in numerous choruses of the Los Angeles Opera Company. Ruth and I also raised a son, Brian, who is a pastor in the Presbyterian Church and a daughter, Dianne, who is an accomplished cellist.

After retiring from The Aerospace Corp, Keith and Ruth moved to Sedona, AZ and later to Pagosa Springs, CO. While in Pagosa he joined the Pagosa Springs community band and played the French Horn again after a fifty year hiatus. Keith also performed (as a tenor soloist) Benjamin Britten's "Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings". At present we live at our home in Cottonwood each winter and our home in Pueblo West each summer.