Stringing something together
The newly formed Butler Symphony Chamber Players will perform as part of the Butler County Community College's Performing Arts Series this fall.
The octet also will perform a full concert at 7 p.m. Aug. 26 at First United Methodist Church, 200 E. North St.
"We enjoyed playing to together before (at the symphony's Concerts to Munch By, at a benefit for the American Heart Association and at area churches) so we've kept playing," said Jim Sanzotti, who plays clarinet as one of the group's eight members.
The other seven members of the string group are: Christie Kecskemethy, violin; Stephanie Maharg, viola; Christina Savannah, bassoon; Beth Weed, contra string bass; Roberta Wotus, French horn; Elisa Wick, violin, and Lynn Crytzer, cello.
Sanzotti was an instrumental music teacher in the Butler School District from 1966 to 1998. His duties at Butler Senior High School included marching band director, symphonic band director, jazz band director and orchestra director.
He received his bachelor of arts degree in clarinet from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and a bachelor of arts in music education from the same institution. Sanzotti earned a master's degree in history from Slippery Rock University and has done graduate work at the Aspen School of Music in Colorado.
Kecskemethy, a native of Vermont, attended the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. As both an orchestral and chamber musician, she performed extensively in the New York/New Jersey area before relocating to Butler, where she now teaches violin privately, plays chamber music as often as possible and is a member of the Butler County Symphony Orchestra.
Maharg is a Butler resident and a member of the Butler County Symphony Orchestra. She graduated from Duquesne University with a degree in music education. Since 1998, she has served as bell choir director at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, where she is regularly a cantor. She also is responsible for special music for the church. She is a private teacher of violin and viola.
Savannah is a native of Butler, although she spent most of her married life traveling up and down the East Coast with her husband, Michael, and their daughters Maria and Natalie. She returned to Butler in 2003 and participates in the cultural events, including substituting as bassoonist with the Butler symphony and playing keyboard in the pit orchestra for various Musical Theatre Guild productions.
She has a bachelor's degree in music education from Indiana (Pa.) University and a master's in music education from Bowling Green. She teaches private piano lessons and directs the choir at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Saxonburg.
Weed began playing the bass at age 12. She joined the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony in Michigan in 1966 and was chosen as a member of America's Youth in Concert in 1971. She toured the East Coast and Europe with both groups in 1969 and 1971 respectively.
She studied music at New Hope College in Holland, Mich., while earning a bachelor's degree in education. She was a member of the New Holland Community Chorale and played with several college groups.
After moving to Butler in 1982 with her husband, Jim, and three children, she joined the Butler symphony. She also performs with the Blazing Star Chorale Society and the MTG pit orchestra.
Wotus is a graduate of Mansfield State University of Pennsylvania with a degree in music education and music therapy. She has played with the Pittsburgh Savory Yard Orchestra, the Allegheny Brass Band, and many MTG orchestras. She is presently employed at Life Steps as a music therapist.
She has been a member of the Butler symphony since 1999 and teaches privately in Butler.
Wick has played violin with the Butler County symphony for two years.
She attended Cleveland Institute of Music for bachelor's and master's degrees in violin performance. She actively performs throughout Pittsburgh with groups such as the Mendelssohn Choir orchestra, the Academy Chamber Orchestra, and the Westmoreland Symphony. She plays Baroque violin, as well with the Bach and Baroque orchestra
She and her husband, Eric, work in music ministry at First United Methodist Church in Butler. They have two sons.
Cello player Crytzer is a 20-year member of the Butler County symphony and a past board member. She works as a music teacher at Butler Intermediate High School and holds music degrees from Grove City College and Youngstown State University. She lives in Butler with her husband and daughter.
Other performance dates for the group include Sept. 9 at St. Luke Lutheran Church in Saxonburg, in addition to the show Nov. 3 at the Succop Theater on the BC3 campus.
For a full performance, the group will present Schubert's "Octet in F Major."
Beethoven's popular "Septet" led directly to this "Octet" by Schubert, Sanzotti said. Count Ferdinand Troyer asked Schubert to compose a piece "exactly like the Beethoven Septet" in 1824. Schubert produced a similar six-movement work that, at first glance, seems closely modeled on its distinguished predecessor.
Beethoven wrote the "Septet" at the beginning of his career, while every page of Schubert's "Octet" sparkles with the magic of his mature chamber music style written only four years before his death in 1828.
The Symphony Woodwind Quintet also will perform at the BC3 concert. This group, started in 1990, is made up of Stacey Steele, flute; Gary Purifoy, oboe; Charles Norton, clarinet; Denise Mintier, French horn, and Mary Gibbons, bassoon.
For more information, call Sanzotti at 724-285-4438 or e-mail vsanzcsanz@zoominternet.net.
