Paul Cardall

Cardall was born a single functioning ventricle and needed surgery the day he was born.^[2] After two more heart surgeries in his youth, Cardall became a pianist.^[3]

Cardall served as the Fine Arts President and Public Relations Vice-president at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) while funded by a leadership scholarship there. During the summer season he worked as a youth counselor for the Especially for Youth camps at Brigham Young University.^[3] While attending college, Cardall played piano for tips at a Nordstrom department store and local restaurants. He recorded his first album, Sign of Affection, in 1994. Richard Paul Evans, author of the best-seller The Christmas Box, heard the album and asked Cardall to create a musical adaptation of his story.^[3] Cardall was able to travel to national book signings with Evans during the release of the CD and the book, he was able to sell tens of thousands of copies of his album and developed a supportive fan base.

While Cardall continued to compose music part-time, he worked at Richard Paul Evans's book distribution company as the music executive.^[3] He worked with Disney, BMG, and others, and became interested in making piano performance his career. Cardall's early compositions are influenced by Mozart, pianists David Lanz, George Winston, and Yanni.^[4]

In early 1999, Cardall founded Stone Angel Music, an independent record label intended to produce, market, and distribute his recordings. That same year, Cardall signed a multi-album deal with Narada, an affiliate of Virgin Records.^[5] Narada expanded upon the distribution channels Cardall had started with author Richard Paul Evans. The Christmas Box album debuted #22 on Billboard's New Age Chart.^[6] That same year, Cardall also debuted a new album entitled The Looking Glass. In December 1999, both records were listed on Billboard's Top 25 New Age Charts.^[7] During his association with The Christmas Box, families of victims in the Oklahoma City bombing requested the music be played during the memorial ceremonies as families placed flowers on the empty chairs representing their lost loved ones, covered by major news outlets. Taking inspiration from this event, Cardall released Miracles: A Journey of Hope and Healing.^[8]

In September 2005, Cardall released Primary Worship. The album debuted at #12 on the Billboard Magazine Top 25 New Age Chart, spending 11 weeks on that chart.^[9] Cardall released a collection of hymns arranged for piano in 2008 titled The Hymns Collection, which debuted No. 4 on the Billboard New Age charts.^[10] That same year, Cardall released a two-disc titled Living for Eden. In 2009, he recorded a CD titled Sacred Piano, which debuted at #5 on Billboard's New Age Chart.^[11]

In February 2011, Cardall's album New Life debuted as the number one Billboard New Age album.^[12] New Life remained in the top 5 albums for more than 30 weeks.^[2] In 2013, Cardall scored T.C. Christensen's film Ephraim's Rescue about Mormon pioneers stranded in the snow in 1856.^[13] The score received the 2014 Best Music Score for a Feature Film at the Filmed in Utah Awards. Cardall's album 40 Hymns for Forty Days (2015), debuted as the number one Billboard New Age album in March 2014.^[14] 40 Hymns for Forty Days held its high rank in the top 10 albums for more than 50 weeks.^[15] Cardall's A New Creation was released on September 16, 2016, by Stone Angel Music. The album debuted #1 on Billboard's New Age Album Chart, #2 Classical Album Chart, #12 Christian Album Chart, #34 overall Independent Albums, and #7 Heatseekers Chart.^[16] The album features soloists Nathan Pacheco (Disney Pearl Records; Yanni Voices tour) and Patrice Tipoki (Fantine, Les Misérables international Broadway tour).

In 2018 Cardall produced two albums for Stone Angel Music. The first, titled Worth of Souls, brought together Christian artists performing songs to fight suicide and depression. The album debuted No. 12 Compilation Albums, No. 20 Christian Album Sales according to Billboard.^[12] The second album, Sunday, is a collection of works from various Stone Angel Music artists. The album debuted No. 1 on the Top New Age Albums Billboard Chart and No. 35 on the Christian Album Sales. Anthem Entertainment acquired Cardall's catalog that year, including a 3 album recording contract. Anthem, then called OLE, also acquired the Stone Angel Music catalog. On November 2, 2018, Christmas was released by Cardall.^[17] Jim Daneker produced the album, which was recorded at Ocean Way Nashville. The album features collaborations with Grammy winning artist CeCe Winans.^[18] Christmas debuted No 1 on top Billboard's New Age Chart and No 2 in Classical. The Gospel Music Association awarded a Dove Award for Instrumental Album of The Year.^[17] In August 2019, Peaceful Piano was released by Anthem Entertainment Group.^[19] Paul worked with multi-Grammy winning engineer Michael Bishop. Peaceful Piano is a collection of improvised piano solos reflecting on the artist's decade surviving with a donor heart.^[19] Cardall was invited by Grammy nominated country artist Ty Herndon and Tony-winning Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth in December 2020 to join them on Orphans of God, written by Joel Lindsay and Twila LaBar.^[20]

In February 2021, The Broken Miracle was released by Anthem Entertainment Group. Cardall collaborated with several guest performers, including David Archuleta, Tyler Glenn, Grammy-nominated Thompson Square,^[21] Grammy-nominated country artist Ty Herndon, Grammy-nominated Sanctus Real lead singer Matt Hammitt, Grammy winner Rachael Yamagata, Akelee and J. Daniel, and Ty Herndon, among others.^[22] In August of that year, Cardall's recording contract with Anthem Entertainment Group came to an end. He established a new independent record label, All Heart Publishing.^[23] Symphonic Distribution was granted distribution for All Heart Publishing.^[24] Cardall's first release under this new imprint was a collection of 14 improvised piano pieces called December. The album is debuted No. 11 on the top Billboard Classical Crossover chart in late 2021.^[25] Cardall released two versions of December, one master album of piano with a string ensemble and the other with a solo piano version.^[26] His next release was titled Sleep in 2022, which included three compositions for various sleep phases.^[27] Following up on other improvisational recordings like Peaceful Piano and December, the artist released Return Home on September 8, 2023.^[28] One year later, Cardall released the solo piano version of Return Home on Return Home: Solo Piano Version.^[29] On November 11, 2023, the artist released an arrangement of O Little Town of Bethlehem.^[30] In 2024, Cardall released five singles from his October album release called Grace In Grief.^[31]

Stone Angel Music is an independent record label founded by Cardall in 1999.^[32]

Stone Angel Music has also released albums by Steven Sharp Nelson^[33] from The Piano Guys, Camille Nelson, Ryan Tilby, Shane Mickelsen, and Jason Lyle Black, had his album Preludes debut at No. 2 on the Billboard Top New Age Albums Chart in June 2016.^[34]

Pianist Jason Lyle Black's Piano Preludes, released May 6, 2016, recently debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Top New Age Albums chart. According to Black, the honor is rare for an artist's first album and is a testament to Black's producer, Paul Cardall, and record label, Stone Angel Music.^[35]

Cardall lived with congenital heart disease for over thirty years. In August 2008, Cardall was listed for a heart transplant. After waiting 385 days, he received a donated heart via transplant on September 9, 2009.^[36][37]

Paul Cardall served on the executive board for Saving Tiny Hearts, a nonprofit founded by Franice Paul, which is dedicated to eliminating Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) as a major health concern by funding research to improve, prolong and save the lives of countless children born with CHD.^[38]

The Paul & Kristina Cardall Scholarship was established with the help from Salt Lake Community College (SLCC), for students with congenital heart disease.^[39]

Paul Cardall has performed at benefit concerts for individuals who require a heart transplant. In 2014, Paul Cardall performed in Salt Lake City for a child who suffered from heart illness.^[40]

In 2011, Utah State Board of Regents awarded Paul Cardall with an honorary doctorate.^[2]

Cardall is married to Kristina Molek, a former Wall Street analyst who is a first generation Slovenian American.^[41]