John R. Paradowski is Minister of Music and Worship and Organist at St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, one of Wisconsin’s leading ELCA houses of worship, where he leads an extensive worship and music department including multiple graded choir programs, comprehensive worship planning, and a concert series. In 1999 Mr. Paradowski directed the installation of the new, 55-rank Schlicker pipe organ at St. Matthew’s Church as part of an extensive worship space environment remodel. During his time at St. Matthew’s, Mr. Paradowski has built an exemplary and nationally acclaimed music program, leading him to be awarded the 2005 National Religious Music Alliance Award of Distinction “for developing and maintaining one of our nation's finest worship music programs.”

Mr. Paradowski is active in the greater Milwaukee area as a recitalist and accompanist, performing Camille Saint Saëns’ Mass for Two Organs and Choir with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; and Francis Poulenc’s Concerto in G Minor for Organ, Strings and Timpani, Félix Alexandre Guilmant’s Symphony #1 for Organ and Orchestra, and Josef Rheinberger’s Organ Concerto #1 with the Concord Chamber Orchestra. He has served as guest orchestra conductor for “Christmas at the Basilica” with the Concord Chamber Orchestra; and has made numerous concert artist appearances with the professional vocal ensemble The Milwaukee Choral Artists; the community chorus Milwaukee Master Singers (where he performed Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms); and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (where he performed Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb for the Wisconsin Choral Director’s Association). Most recently, Mr. Paradowski served as Artistic Co-Director and pianist for the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin’s [ARCW] 30th Anniversary Gala Benefit, an evening gathering Milwaukee’s performing artists together – including The Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, First Stage, and the One Voice Community Chorus – to raise awareness and resources in the fight against AIDS.

In 2011, he was invited to perform a solo organ recital at the esteemed Madonna della Strada Chapel, on the campus of Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois.  In addition, Mr. Paradowski was requested to provide organ music for the PBS documentary on church architecture, “A City of Steeples,” which aired in 1997.

Mr. Paradowski’s choral music is published by Augsburg-Fortress, Choristers Guild, and Hal Leonard Publishing. He is a published author in the Augsburg Fortress “Sundays and Seasons” worship resource guide; in “Overtones,” the official journal of the Handbell Musicians of America; and in “The Chorister,” the journal for the Choristers Guild.

Mr. Paradowski has led sessions in creative church music, hymnody, and repertoire at many national and local workshops and conferences of the American Guild of Organists, Choristers Guild, Wisconsin Music Teachers Association, American Baptists Assembly, Augsburg-Fortress Publishers, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He was guest lecturer on the topic of “Handbells in Worship” at the 2009 Association of Lutheran Church Musicians National conference. He was Organist and Choir Director for the Hymn Festival at the 2014 Lutheridge Music Week held in Asheville, North Carolina.

Mr. Paradowski holds the bachelor’s degree in organ performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, where he studied with Dr. John Chappell Stowe. He completed advanced studies in organ with Dr. Susan Klotzbach (currently at Illinois Wesleyan University); and Dr. John Ferguson (retired from St. Olaf College). He carried out additional studies in voice with Carol Greif (Wisconsin Conservatory of Music); Marlee Sabo (Wisconsin Conservatory of Music); and Kurt R. Hansen (Northwestern University). As a choral musician, Mr. Paradowski has sung and studied under the leadership of Margaret Hawkins, Dr. Robert Fountain, and Lucinda Thayer, and pursued graduate choral conducting studies with Dr. Sharon Hansen, Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.

An active member of the American Guild of Organists for many years, he is a past Sub-Dean and Registrar of the Milwaukee Chapter.  His professional memberships include the American Choral Directors Association, the American Guild of Organists, the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, and the Handbell Musicians of America.