Paul Cantelon is American composer of film scores and contemporary classical music. He is also a violinist, pianist, and accordionist, and a founding member of the American alternative band Wild Colonials.

Born in Glendale, California. He was a music prodigy who made his violin debut at the age of 13 at UCLA’s Royce Hall.Inspired by the work of Donalee Reubenet, he started piano studies. He studied with Andre Gauthier at the Geneva Conservatory of Music in Switzerland, Jacob Lateiner at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, and Vlado Perlemuter at the Conservatoire de Paris.

In the early 90’s, Paul formed the eclectic band, Wild Colonials, with singer, Angela McCluskey, recording two albums for Geffen Records and performing with such artists as Joe Cocker, The Kinks, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, George Clinton, Rickie Lee Jones, King Crimson and Ry Cooder. The Wild Colonials recorded two albums for Geffen, selling in excess of 500,000 units.

In 1995, after composing a special centenary score for the Eisenstein classic silent film, Battleship Potemkin, Paul finished a new collection of works for solo piano and piano trio, opening the Montreux Jazz Festival. These works were met with much critical acclaim from artists as diverse as Pete Townsend, Chick Corea and Phillip Glass. World-renowned cellist, Yo Yo Ma, recently accompanied Paul for an exclusive performance of Paul’s original compositions, as well as works from the standard cello/piano repertoire.

In 2005, Paul began his venture into film with Liev Schreiber’s Everything Is Illuminated. He went on to score such films as the award winning Diving Bell And The Butterfly (2007), Sony Pictures’ The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), Oliver Stone’s W. (2008), New York, I Love You (2009), Tony Goldwyn’s Conviction (2010), Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel (2011), Woody Allen: A Documentary (2012), Oscar Winner Geoffrey Fletcher’s upcoming release Violet & Daisy, and Effie Gray, written by and starring Emma Thompson. Paul has also recently contributed original music to Jonathan Demme’s interpretation of Henrik Ibsen’s The Master Builder, called Fear Of Falling.