Blackstone Residence Pipe Organ
Bratenahl, Ohio USA

Kerl Paukert -- excerpts from Wilma Salisbury

Born in the village of Skutec, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), on January 1, 1935, Paukert studied oboe and organ at the Prague Conservatory. Because of repressive Stalinist policies during his youth, he had little access to forward-looking 20th-century music. Yet, he managed to acquire forbidden recordings and scores, and he developed an insatiable hunger for new music. In 1961, Paukert broke through the Iron Curtain by obtaining permission to become principal oboist of a symphony orchestra in Iceland.  After his stint in Reykjavik, he enrolled at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent, Belgium. In 1964, he entered an international improvisation competition in Haarlem, Holland, which led to an invitation to make his American debut in Chicago. Following a national tour, he was invited to study and teach at Washington University in St. Louis. There, he met his future wife, soprano Noriko Fujii.

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Before coming to Cleveland, Paukert taught at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and directed the music program at that city's St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. At the Cleveland Museum of Art, he played at more than 800 recitals and organ demonstrations, commissioned music from local and international composers, mounted the daring Aki Festival of New Music and accompanied instruments as diverse as synthesizer and Chinese erhu. His eclectic repertoire, often performed from memory, ranged from obscure Czech music to the latest avant-garde experiments.

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In addition to his duties at the museum, Paukert headed the organ department at the Cleveland Institute of Music, taught at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and advised the Jesuits in charge of music at John Carroll University. Since 1979, he has directed the music program at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where he continued to perform recitals and present guest artists after his retirement from the museum in 2005.