Introduction

Biography

Paolo was the son of Gae­ta­no and Clo­rin­da Conte.

His mu­sic­al gift was dis­played ear­ly: He be­gan im­pro­vis­ing on the pi­ano at age four. He stu­died mu­sic in Ve­nice un­der Tag­lia­pi­etra, Wolf-Fer­ra­ri, and Bu­so­ni, and earned a mas­ter’s de­gree in psy­cho­lo­gy and doc­tor­ate in mu­si­col­ogy at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Pa­dua.

In Au­gust 1914, Conte went to the Uni­ver­si­ty of North Da­ko­ta to teach pi­ano and com­po­si­tion at Wes­ley College.

In 1923, he be­came Dean of Fine Arts at Ok­la­ho­ma Bap­tist Uni­ver­si­ty in Shaw­nee, Ok­la­ho­ma.

In 1936, he ac­cept­ed a po­si­tion at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wi­chi­ta in Kan­sas. While there, he al­so served as Min­is­ter of Mu­sic at the First Bap­tist Church in Wi­chi­ta.

In 1952, Conte moved to a sum­mer home in Co­lo­ra­do Springs, in se­mi-re­tire­ment. He played the or­gan at Au­du­bon Heights Bap­tist Church in Co­lo­ra­do Springs and taught pi­ano in the Pikes Peak re­gion.