[1] Pavle Dešpalj graduated from Music Academy in Zagreb where he studied composition with Prof. Stjepan Šulek.

Pavle Dešpalj led Zagreb's orchestras on numerous tours around Europe, America and the Far East.

He was a guest conductor of many prestigious foreign symphonic orchestras in Luxembourg, Toulouse, Milan, Frankfurt, Bratislava, Salzburg, Budapest, Bucharest and Tallinn.

Pavle Dešpalj was a member of international juries for conducting competitions in Zagreb, Budapest, and Tokyo.

[5] In 1996 Croatian President Franjo Tuđman presented him with the Order of Danica Hrvatska with the effigy of Marko Marulić.