Richard Paley has been the principal bassoonist of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, IBA since 1982. Mr. Paley has also appeared frequently as soloist with the orchestra in works spanning many styles from Baroque to Modern music. Born in Boston, Massachusetts and educated at the New England Conservatory and the Eastman School of Music, he immigrated to Israel in 1978 at the invitation of the Israel Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Paley frequently premiers and records new works by Israeli and foreign composers with the Israel Contemporary Ensemble of which he was a founding member in 1991. Among them "Artiton" by Joseph Bardanashvili which was written for Mr. Paley, "Dead Elvis" by Michael Dougherty and the Narrator in Peter Etvos's "Snatcher of Conversation". He has participated in the prestigious Chautauqua and Bard Music Festivals in the United States. Among the pioneers of baroque and classical music performance on period instruments in Israel, he is frequently heard performing with the Barrocade ensemble and the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra. Mr. Paley is one of the premier teachers of modern and baroque bassoon in Israel and continues his long relationship with Israel's leading Academies and Conservatories and the Young Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.