Paul Cornish

Paul Cornish is a pianist and composer from Houston, Texas, who currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Growing up in church and studying classical piano lessons from the age of 5, Paul’s musical knowledge spans a great deal in all kinds of musical genres. He studied at the world-renowned High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas which has produced the likes of Walter Smith III, Jason Moran, Eric Harland and Robert Glasper to name a few. Paul’s talents have been heard in Norway, Budapest, Canada, and numerous music festivals and venues across the United States such as Carnegie Hall and Blue Note.

Paul is currently studying Jazz Music Performance at the University of Southern California. With the USC Thornton Jazz Orchestra and Honors Combo, Paul received the Outstanding Soloist award at the 2015 and 2016 Next Generation Jazz Festival. As a composer, he won a gold medal in the 2013 NAACP ACT-SO Competition and was selected as a finalist for the 2014 ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Competition. In 2021, received 18th Street Arts Center’s (Los Angeles) Make Jazz Fellowship and was commissioned by the Apollo Chamber Players to write a piece for string quartet and two voices commemorating the centennial celebration of Houston’s Library System. Cornish was also a finalist in the 2023 American Pianists Awards and the Herbie Hancock International Jazz Piano Competition. Cornish has performed extensively across the globe with such notable artists as Joshua Redman, Louis Cole, Mark Guiliana, Snoh Aalegra, Terrace Martin, Thumpasaurus and HAIM.

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