Noteworthy Alumni in the Field of Music – Paul Callaway ’27

Missouri Military Academy alumnus Paul Callaway was a distinguished composer, performer, choirmaster and musical leader known and recognized around the world.

After graduating from MMA in 1927, Callaway attended Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri until a generous donor agreed to underwrite his studies with T. Tertius Noble, a famed English organist and choirmaster at the St. Thomas Church in New York City. According to Noble, there was nothing he could ever tell Callaway about how to play because he was already in total command of the instrument by the time they met.

Despite his natural talent, Callaway pursued many avenues to enrich his musical education. At the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, he studied with Leo Sowerby, a Pulitzer Prize-winning musician, and spent a summer in France studying with Marcel Dupré, a famous genius composer whose works with the organ range from moderately to extremely difficult to replicate.

His professional experience began in 1935 – at the mere age of 26 – where he was named organist and choirmaster at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. At 29, he was given the immense honor of serving as organist and choirmaster of the Washington National Cathedral, where he served for nearly 40 years – his tenure only interrupted to serve three years in the U.S. Army as a bandmaster in the South Pacific during World War II.

At the cathedral, Callaway expanded the music program's support of American liturgical music and oversaw a considerable expansion of the organ as construction of the Cathedral's nave was completed.

In addition to his Washington National Cathedral duties, he became the founding music director of two major musical organizations in Washington— the Cathedral Choral Society and the Opera Society of Washington – and was appointed by President Eisenhower to the advisory committee for the National Cultural Center.

Throughout his career, Callaway launched several impressive works as a conductor and organ soloist. To name a few of his most famous accomplishments, Callaway conducted numerous world premieres, including works by Gian Garlo Menotti, Leo Sowerby, John La Montaine, and John Corigliano; he led the Cathedral Choral Society in the first American cathedral performances of Britten’s War Requiem and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. He was also a guest conductor of Washington's National Symphony Orchestra, and he was a frequent conductor and soloist at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

By his retirement in 1977, Callaway was made honorary officer of the British Empire by Ambassador Peter Jay upon behalf of Queen Elizabeth II. He was hailed by large publications, such as the Washington Post for being the “the next Toscanini.” Washington Post music critic Paul Hume once said: “It seems incontrovertible that he has had a larger influence on the musical life of this city than any other person.”

Callaway passed away in 1995.

MMA is proud to count Callaway among our noteworthy alumni.