Patty Schmitt

Since then, Ms. Schmitt has performed with numerous local orchestras, opera companies, chamber groups, theater companies, choirs and dance ensembles. In 2010, she was hired to perform as a soloist, playing a concerto by Mozart with Hawthorne Symphony Orchestra. In 2013, she was hired to perform a solo by Evan Mack for Skidmore College. Ms. Schmitt was recently hired as soloist in 2019 to perform “Vocalise” by Rachmaninoff as part of a showcase with Glen Ridge Choral Society & Orchestra.

Ms. Schmitt maintains current positions in about a dozen professional ensembles, including Garden State Philharmonic, Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra and Bergen Symphony Orchestra to name a few. She is also a substitute musician for Paper Mill Playhouse, Queens Symphony Orchestra and New Jersey Festival Orchestra. Ms. Schmitt is a member of the Chamberlain Brass Quintet, who has released a couple of albums, including a jazz album in 2014 featuring renowned trumpeter Terell Stafford.

Ms. Schmitt’s extensive orchestral experience began as a section member of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra and the Philadelphia Sinfonia II. She was involved in chamber music at Temple University and the Settlement School of Music. Ms. Schmitt’s debut as a soloist took place at the Manayunk, PA Arts Festival in 1998, where she performed Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1. In 1999, she performed with a woodwind quintet consisting of students of the Curtis Institute to become a finalist in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition in Indiana.

In 2003, Ms. Schmitt received a Bachelor’s Degree in horn performance from New England Conservatory. There, she was a scholarship and Dean’s List student under the tutelage of Daniel Katzen, a recent retiree of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Schmitt also studied with Jean Rife, who served as principal natural hornist for Boston Baroque for over twenty-five years. During her time in Boston, Ms. Schmitt gave four solo recitals and was active in chamber music studies with BSO principal hornist James Sommerville, composer John Heiss and saxophone soloist Kenneth Radnofsky, among others.

Ms. Schmitt has performed in such venues as Radio City Music Hall, David Geffen Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Town Hall, Symphony Space, Merkin Hall at Kaufman Center, NJPAC and Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. She has performed in Carnegie Hall on numerous occasions, including a performance with the Tim Janis Ensemble, accompanying soloists Sir James Galway, Jackie Evancho and others. Just a few of the conductors she has worked with include Gerard Schwarz, Benjamin Zander, Gunther Schuller, Constantine Kitsopoulos, Marco Armiliato, Kirk Trevor, James Gaffigan and Gerald Steichen.