PAULO K TIRÓL is a writer of musical theatre and liturgical music, originally from Manila and now based in northern New Jersey.

Musical theatre highlights include music and lyrics for ON THIS SIDE OF THE WORLD (created with and directed by Noam Shapiro; world premiere and cast album recording at East West Players, the country’s largest Asian-American theatre); music, lyrics and book for DEAR AMERICA, adapted from the memoir of journalist and activist Jose Antonio Vargas (directed by Noam Shapiro; residencies at the Drama League and Theater Latté Da); and orchestrations for the off-Broadway musical FELIX STARRO (Ma-Yi Theater Co.).

As a liturgical composer, he has been composing and arranging for Hangad, whose albums are produced by the Jesuit Music Ministry, since 1995. Since 2018, his songs have been published by Oregon Catholic Press, the largest publisher of Catholic music in the United States. He won the Awit Award for Best Inspirational / Religious Song in 2006 for“Pieta: Oyayi Sa Paanan ni Hesus”; and his song “Still We Sing Alleluia” was named Song of the Year by the Association of Catholic Publishers in 2021.

Training: Ateneo de Manila University; Berklee College of Music; MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from NYU Tisch (full-tuition scholarship); Dramatist Guild Foundation Fellow. More at www.paulophonic.com.