Paul W. Popiel is the director of bands at the University of Kansas, only the seventh person to hold this position in the band’s storied 125-year history. Popiel conducts the KU Wind Ensemble, directs the graduate programme in wind conducting, and guides all aspects of the university band programme. His previous appointments include the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and Oklahoma State University. He also enjoyed several years teaching in the public schools of Texas and Michigan. Popiel has lectured and performed throughout the US, Canada, Europe, China, Australia, Singapore and Japan.

He has several highly acclaimed performance and production credits on the Klavier Records, Naxos, Ecstatic, Summit Records and Mark Custom labels. A proponent of distinctive new music, Popiel has commissioned and premiered numerous new works for winds, including pieces by composers Joel Puckett, Mohammed Fairouz, Michael Torke, Aaron Perrine, Kevin Walczyk, James Barnes, David Dzubay, Joni Greene and others. Popiel is a member of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.