Masterworks 1

Mendelssohn’s Scottish

Masterworks 1

Mendelssohn’s Scottish

The season begins with a symphonic souvenir: “I think I have found there the beginning of my ‘Scottish’ Symphony,” Mendelssohn wrote in 1829 after visiting the ruins of Edinburgh’s Holyrood Chapel. At once dramatic and lighthearted, the resulting musical postcard is a vibrant journey from the mist to a sunny, lively finale. North State Symphony principal musicians Michelle Keem and James Pytko will be featured in the Duet Concertino by Richard Strauss, his last purely instrumental work with a lean, retrospective voice. The concert opens with Rossini’s Overture to Italian in Algiers, the comedic opera filled with an effervescent energy that thrust the 21-year-old into operatic stardom.

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Featured Artists

James Pytko, clarinet

Michelle Keem, bassoon

Program

ROSSINI L’Italiana in Algeri Overture

STRAUSS Duet-Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon

MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3 “Scottish”

Michelle Keem, bassoon

North State Symphony Principal Musician

Michelle Keem is the principal bassoon of the North State Symphony and Santa Cruz Symphony, in addition to performing regularly with many orchestras around the Bay Area. She has played with orchestras and chamber ensembles across North America and Europe, including the Oregon Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Antwerp Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, and Trio Auloi, whose performances included a recital in Boston’s Jordan Hall. Michelle is also on the faculty at Sacramento State School of Music.

A native of New York state, Michelle has Bachelor’s and Master of Music degrees from New England Conservatory, where she studied with Rick Ranti and Richard Svoboda, and did additional graduate studies with Marc Goldberg and Patricia Rogers at Bard College Conservatory.

In addition to working as a performer and educator, Michelle is an avid knitter and a longtime volunteer at a local farm animal sanctuary.

James Pytko, clarinet

North State Symphony Principal Musician

James Pytko is an avid performer and educator in the SF Bay Area. He is the Principal Clarinet of the North State Symphony, the Second/Bass Clarinet of Opera San Jose, the Second Clarinet of the Monterey Symphony, and the Clarinetist with Avenue Winds, a woodwind quintet. James has also performed with San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Opera, Chrysalis Orchestra, Trinity Alps Music Festival, Modesto Symphony, Symphony San Jose, West Bay Opera, Townsend Opera, Fresno Grand Opera, Symphony Napa Valley, Sphinx Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, Monterey Symphony, Ensemble Miknawooj, Santa Cruz Symphony, Espressivo Ensemble, Vallejo Symphony and many other Bay Area Ensembles.

In addition to his busy performance schedule, he also proudly works for the American Federation of Musicians Local 6 as their Financial Assistant. James has taught clarinet at CSU Stanislaus and UC Santa Cruz and has also given masterclasses around the country. He received his Bachelor of Music and Artist Diploma from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. His primary teachers wereRichie Hawley, Carmine Campione, Scott Andrews, and Naomi Drucker.