TheAnnapolis Symphony Orchestrawelcomes its newest members after holding bass auditions on November 28. Paul Nemethwas selected for Principal Bass, and Patrick Raynard was chosen for Section Bass.
Music Director José-Luis Novoand a committee of existing orchestra members conducted “blind auditions,” as is customary with professional orchestras. Musicians perform from behind a screen and do not speak with the judges. Maestro Novo explains, “First, preserving the anonymity of auditionees helps the committee to focus on solely judging how each candidate plays, factoring out the influence of any other type of information we could gather if the screen were not to be there. Second, it gives the candidates the peace of mind that the process is as fair as it can be, and nobody is receiving preferential treatment.” Maestro Novo and the committee found the talent they were searching for in Nemeth and Raynard. “Of course, both of them had a high level of technical ability on their instrument, but for me it was their musicianship that made the difference.”
Born in Syracuse, New York, Paul Nemeth grew up in Princeton, New Jersey and studied at the Juilliard School, Yale University, and Northwestern University, where he is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate. His principal teachers have included Orin O’Brien, Donald Palma, and Andrew Raciti. Paul has performed with orchestras that include the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, and New World Symphony. A former member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, he has also performed in the Lucerne Festival Academy, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, Pacific Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. In 2017, Paul received 2nd Prize in the International Society of Bassists Orchestral Competition in Ithaca, New York. He has taught in the Bard College Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division, the Juilliard-Nord Anglia Performing Arts Programme, and at Yale College, where he was instructor for undergraduate students.
Patrick Raynard is a bassist from Illinois pursuing a Master’s of Music with Ira Gold at Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University. He previously studied with Scott Dixon at the Cleveland Institute of Music for his Bachelor of Music. Summer festivals in which he has attended include Orford Music, Domaine Forget, Amherst Early Music Festival and Sewanee Music Festival. He has performed in masterclasses for François Rabbath, Paul Ellison, Matthew McDonald, Joel Quarrington, Alex Hanna, David Allen Moore, Nick Walker, Ali Yazdanfar and Étiene LaFrance.