Paul Nemeth, double bass, recently joined the Florida Orchestra as associate principal bass. He has been heard throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, appearing in halls such as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and Alice Tully Hall in New York City, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Freidrichstadt-Palast in Berlin, the Musik und Kongresshall in Lübeck, Sapporo Concert Hall in Tokyo, Strathmore Hall in Maryland, Century Theater in Beijing, Snape Maltings in Aldeburgh, UK, the Kultur und Kongresszentrum (KKL) in Luzern, and Symphony Center in Chicago.
Paul studied at The Juilliard School (BM, 2010), Yale University (MM, 2012), and Northwestern University (DMA, 2019). His principal teachers and mentors have been Orin O’Brien, Donald Palma, Andrew Raciti, and Paul Ellison. His doctoral studies at Northwestern culminated with the thesis “The Early Publication History of Domenico Dragonetti”, a research document that discusses the Venetian double bass virtuoso Domenico Dragonetti and his role in the English Bach revival, as well as his relationship with British publishers in the first half of the 19th century. Paul most recently lectured on this topic at the 2021 International Society of Bassists Convention, hosted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
In addition to performing with the Florida Orchestra, Paul has performed with orchestras that include the National Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, and New World Symphony. He previously served as principal bass of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra in Annapolis, Maryland and performed in their first European tour to Spain, performing in Madrid, Valencia, Zaragoza, and Granada. His festival performances include the Lucerne Festival Academy, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, Pacific Music Festival, and Aspen Music Festival. While living in Chicago, Paul was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, where he had the opportunity to work with Alexander Hanna, principal double bass of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and performed with many orchestras in the Chicago area, such as the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra, Northbrook Symphony Orchestra, and Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra. He went on to join The Orchestra Now (TON) at Bard College, where he regularly performed in New York City at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2017, Paul received 2nd Prize in the International Society of Bassists Orchestral Competition in Ithaca, New York. Paul has worked with many of today’s leading conductors, such as Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Muti, Semyon Bychkov, Michael Tilson Thomas, Leonard Slatkin, Fabio Luisi, Christoph Eschenbach, Marin Alsop, and David Robertson.
Outside of orchestral performance, Paul has been active in performing and researching chamber music that includes the double bass. He has performed chamber works with the North Country Chamber Players, members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in Alice Tully Hall, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, at Merkin Hall in New York, the Zhao B Art Center in Chicago, (le) poisson rouge, the FOCUS! Festival at Lincoln Center, and the Summergarden Festival at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). With the Florestan String Quartet, he had the opportunity to tour Taiwan, giving performances and educational workshops in Taipei, Kaohsiung, Pingtung, and Taichung. His interest in discovering the repertoire of the double bass in chamber music lead to his creation of the Double Bass Chamber Music Database on his website, which lists over 4,000 works. The website has been featured in periodicals such as Chamber Music America and Bass World, the magazine of the International Society of Bassists. Paul has also enjoyed performing with a number of ensembles specializing in period performance, such as the Sebastians, Seraphic Fire, American Baroque Orchestra, and Yale Schola Cantorum, working with musicians such as William Christie, Masaaki Suzuki, Jaap Schröder, and Nicholas McGegan.
A dedicated music educator, he has held teaching positions with the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, Bard College Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division, the Juilliard-Nord Anglia Performing Arts Programme, and Yale College, where he taught undergraduate students. For more information about how to study double bass with Paul, please visit his teaching page.
