Paolo Bordignon — Harpsichord

Paolo Bordignon is harpsichordist of the New York Philharmonic and Organist and Choirmaster of St. Bartholomew’s Church, Park Avenue. He has appeared as soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra and the American Symphony Orchestra, and in performances with Camerata Pacifica, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Mark Morris Dance Group, and The Knights, among many others.

Harpsichord

As a harpsichordist, Mr. Bordignon has performed with the MET Orchestra Musicians, Boston Symphony Chamber Players, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, All-Star Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, ECCO, Sejong Soloists, and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Lincoln Center. He has collaborated with artists including Sir James Galway, Itzhak Perlman, Reinhard Goebel, Paul Hillier, Bobby McFerrin, Midori, Renée Fleming, and Wynton Marsalis, and performed Philip Glass’s Harpsichord Concerto for the opening of Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. His festival appearances include Aspen, Bard, Bay Chamber, Blossom, Bridgehampton, Grand Teton, Palm Beach, Ravinia, and Vail. His recordings appear on labels including Warner Classics, Universal Music, Naxos, MSR, and Eusonia, and his performances have been featured on NBC, CBS, PBS, CNN, NPR, CBC, and national television in Korea and Japan. He has worked closely with composers including Elliott Carter, David Conte, Jean Guillou, Stephen Hartke, Christopher Theofanidis, Melinda Wagner, and Michi Wiancko, and has premiered rediscovered chamber works by Felix Mendelssohn with the Clarion Music Society.

Organ & Church Music

As a recitalist, Mr. Bordignon has performed at St. Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, St. Eustache in Paris, and in a ten-recital residency at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Recent recitals include appearances at the Met, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (Portland, OR), Marble Collegiate Church, St. Bartholomew’s Church, and St. Paul’s Chapel of Trinity Wall Street. At St. Bartholomew’s, he directs the church’s renowned music program, serving as principal organist and leading the St. Bartholomew’s Choir and St. Bart’s Singers. In 2022, he was featured in a Gala Organ Concert with The Philadelphia Orchestra, led by David Robertson, with guest countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo.

Studies

Mr. Bordignon studied at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he trained with John Weaver (organ) and Lionel Party (harpsichord). He earned Master’s and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in harpsichord at The Juilliard School, with doctoral research in Leipzig and Berlin focusing on Bach’s Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ. He is an Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Music and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, having won its major prizes.

Born in Toronto to Italian parents, he studied with Brian Rae and John Tuttle and attended St. Michael’s Cathedral Choir School, an affiliate of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome. At 17, he was appointed Associate Organist of St. Michael’s Cathedral, serving Canada’s largest Archdiocese.