Paul Harshman is a recently retired Music Educator from Seattle, WA. In addition to staying active as a clinician and adjudicator throughout the country Paul is also the leader of the pH Factor Big Band. The pH Factor has two album releases, The Music of Mat Montgomery and In Case of Emergency Break Glass, with the latter being recorded remotely in 2020 during the pandemic.
Wherever he taught Paul was able to build nationally recognized programs. As Director of Bands at Kentridge HS in the 1990's, Shorewood HS from 2000-2009, Lakeside School from 2008-2015, Shoreline Community College from 2010-2015 and most recently Hamilton Middle School and The University of Washington his Jazz Bands were considered among the finest in the nation. Paul’s bands won many of the most prestigious jazz festivals in the country, some of them multiple times. These include the Berklee College (Boston) Jazz Festival, the University of North Texas Jazz Festival, the Reno Jazz Festival, the Fullerton Jazz Festival, the Lionel Hampton/ University of Idaho Jazz Festival and the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival. Between 1999 and 2008 his groups qualified for the Essentially Ellington Festival in New York City five times and in 2005 and 2008 received the Honorable Mention Award at that festival. Through invitation, Paul’s ensembles have performed at the Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague, Netherlands, the 2001 MENC National Conference in Washington D.C. and the 2007 International Association of Jazz Educators Conference in New York. They have also performed with guest artists such as Maynard Ferguson, Phil Woods, Steve Houghton, George Cables, Allen Vizzutti, Marvin Stamm, Arturo O’Farrill and the University of North Texas One O’clock Jazz Lab Band and in 2009 received a Downbeat Award for HS Big Band Performance. Paul’s latest honor was conducting the Texas All-State Small School Jazz Ensemble at the 100th TMEA Convention in San Antonio in February of 2020.
Paul received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Central Washington University and his Master of Music Degree from Northwestern University. While at CWU, Paul was an All-American in Track and Field and still holds the school records for both the 10,000 and 3,000-meter runs and is a member of the CWU Athletic Hall of Fame.