Paul Jonathan Thompson (Composer) Paul Thompson has spent the last seventeen years serving as the principal of the Urban Assembly School of Music and Art (UAMA), a public arts high school that he founded in 2005 located in DUMBO, Brooklyn. In this role, he designed and implemented all aspects of the school including curriculum and instruction, arts programming, and youth development. Prior to his work in education, Thompson had a career as a musician and composer, and he continues to write and perform music. He has worked across genres ranging from hip-hop to classical to jazz, and toured both internationally and across the U.S. He has collaborated with artists including Grammy-winner Meshell Ndegeocello, pop sensation The Black Eyed Peas, and the American Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leon Botstein, which performed Thompson’s work for orchestra, Purple, Black and Green. Thompson studied and performed with Wadada Leo Smith. Within the world of theater, Thompson has worked with UNIVERSES and the LAByrinth Theater Company.