Paul Niemisto

Dr. Paul Niemisto recently retired from St Olaf College Music Department as Professor Emeritus. He joined St. Olaf in 1978, as conductor of the Norseman Band and instructor of low brass instruments. Originally from Northern Michigan he taught for a few years in the public schools in Atlantic Canada before coming to Minnesota. He graduated from the University of Michigan and then received his doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 2004.

In 1979 he founded the Cannon Valley Regional Symphony Orchestra, which he still conducts. In 1990 he founded Boys of America (Ameriikan poijat) a Finnish style brass septet made of American musicians, which has toured internationally. He regularly performs on as a conductor, on trombone, euphonium, and tuba.

Niemisto has been interested in the history of Finnish wind music for many years. The unique brass history of Finland fueled his research, a Fulbright Grant in 1999, and a doctoral degree. He has been back in recently to continue research in Finland and St Petersburg, Russia, on an American Scandinavian Foundation Grant. For this work, he is the recipient of the Finnish Military Music Cross. In 2013 he published a book on his research: “Cornets and Pickaxes: Finnish Brass Bands on the Iron Range.” In spring 2017 he will travel to Finland for a second Fulbright teaching and research grant at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.