Dr. Paul Cummings is Professor of Music at Cal Poly Humboldt, where he conducts the Wind Ensemble, teaches Music History, and coordinates the Music Education degree program. Before coming to Humboldt, Dr. Cummings taught at the University of Oregon, Chapman University, Cabrillo College, and the University of California at Santa Cruz. In K-12 schools, he taught band and orchestra in Palo Alto, Campbell, Los Gatos, and San Jose. The large ensembles under his direction at Palo Alto High School performed to critical acclaim at many festivals, as well as on performance tours in New Orleans, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Dr. Cummings is an active guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator at festivals throughout California and beyond. Conducting engagements and presentations in recent years have taken him to San Francisco to conduct the SF Unified High School Honor Band; to Kingston, Rhode Island to conduct the Southern New England Honor Band; to Annapolis, Maryland to conduct in the Festival of Firsts program with the Anne Arundel College Symphony Orchestra; to Fortuna, CA to conduct the All-Humboldt County Senior Band; to Bristol, England to conduct the Redland Wind Band; to Normal, Illinois to adjudicate and clinic for the Illinois State University Band Festival; to Fresno, CA to present a clinic with the Amador Valley High School String Orchestra at CASMEC (California All-State Music Educators Conference); to Salt Lake City, UT for a presentation on orchestral repertoire at the national conference of CODA (College Orchestra Directors Association); and to San Jose, CA for a clinic at CASMEC with combined chamber groups from Sonoma State University and Cal Poly Humboldt.

Publications include five articles in separate volumes of the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series published by GIA; additional articles in CMEA Magazine and Musical Quarterly: https://academic.oup.com/mq/article-abstract/98/4/395/2374159?redirectedFrom=fulltext and a monograph in Humboldt Digital Scholar: (https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/concern/theses/kp78gj49z).

Conducting teachers include Robert Ponto, Robert Halseth, Allan MacMurray, Frederic Fennell, Keith Brion, and Robert Hornyak. Cummings is also active as a clarinetist, performing in numerous Faculty Artist Series recitals at Cal Poly Humboldt, at the Trinidad Bay Art and Music Festival, with the Eureka Symphony, Master Sinfonia Chamber Orchestra, and with the Wind Energy quintet.

Dr. Cummings is currently the President of the Western Division of the College Band Directors National Association. In the past he has also served on the board of directors of the College Orchestra Directors Association and the California Music Educators Association.