Riley Zimmermann is a performer and educator in the Pittsburgh area. A Pennsylvania native, he holds degrees from Duquesne University and Carnegie Mellon University.

As an educator, Riley has done a lot of teaching in a lot of different places. While maintaining a private studio of students, he taught elementary orchestra in the North Allegheny School District. Riley served as interim bass faculty at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA. Some of his favorite teaching, however, has been working with students and faculty at Bass Works, a double bass camp based in Baltimore, MD. Currently serving on the faculty, Riley has worked with Bass Works since 2019. He has also worked with the Young Bassists Program of the International Society of Bassists.

From 2023-25 Riley served as acting principal bass in the Richmond Symphony. As a freelance bassist, he played with many orchestras including the Cincinnati Symphony, Sarasota Opera, New World Symphony, Canton Symphony, and the Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh. In 2019 he won 1st place in the Orchestral Division competition at the International Society of Bassists convention in Bloomington, IN. Riley also co-founded the double bass duo Contraduo with his wife, Emily Tarantino (Assistant Principal Bass of the Westmoreland Symphony, and Associate Musician in the Columbus Symphony). Together they play original arrangements and compositions across western Pennsylvania. Riley and Emily have two cats, Matilda and Rusalka.