Paul R. Demers was appointed bass clarinet of The Philadelphia Orchestra by Christoph Eschenbach in 2006. Before his appointment, Mr. Demers performed as bass clarinetist with major orchestras, including the National Symphony and the Baltimore Symphony, and was a member of "The President’s Own" Marine Band in Washington, D.C. He was also a regular substitute bass clarinetist with The Philadelphia Orchestra, and has performed with the Orchestra on several international tours. Mr. Demers can be heard on the Orchestra’s most recent recordings and can be seen in Music from the Inside Out playing solo bass clarinet in Tan Dun’s On Taoism. As a chamber musician, Mr. Demers has performed at the Saratoga Chamber Music Festival, the Kingston Chamber Music Festival and is a member of Network for New Music in Philadelphia. Born in Westbrook, Maine, Mr. Demers started playing clarinet at age 10. He earned a Bachelor of Music, a Master of Music, and a Performance Certificate from DePaul University in Chicago, where he studied with Larry Combs and John Bruce Yeh. He is on faculty at Temple University.