Melissa has also performed extensively with orchestras throught the United States, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Columbus Symphony, and the Dayton Philharmonic. She has held positions with many orchestras, including principal positions with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Baroque, and second bassoon positions with symphony orchestras in Ann Arbor and Lansing, Michigan. Her passion for music has led to performances around the world, including the New World Symphony Orchestra's Rome tour and performances with the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. As a soloist, Melissa has performed with the Cincinnati College-Conservatory Chamber Players, the Michigan State Philharmonic, and three times with the Chelsea Symphony.
In addition to her orchestral and solo playing, Melissa has collaborated with other musicians on a broad range of chamber music projects. She has frequently premiered new works, playing numerous concerts premiering chamber and solo works by local composers. Melissa also collaborated to bring the previously unpublished reed trios of composer Fernande Decruck to light, through transcribing manuscripts into notation and recording a CD of the works.
Dr. Kritzer has been selected to present and perform at the International Double Reed Society Convention three times. In 2014, Melissa performed in a chamber recital, and in July 2012, she presented her research on Carl Maria von Weber’s Andante e Rondo Ungarese in a lecture recital. Most recenly, Melissa was selected to perform and present a program of Fernande Decruck's lost reed trios at the society's 2015 convention in Tokyo, Japan.
Melissa has extensive experience teaching students at all levels. Dr. Kritzer maintains an active lesson studio in the New York City area. Previously, while at Michigan State University, she was a bassoon instructor providing private lessons to music majors and non-majors, coaching chamber music as well as teaching classes in reed making and bassoon methods. She also designed and launched a new class in audition preparation.
In 2011, Melissa was awarded the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts from Michigan State University. She also holds degrees in bassoon performance from Northwestern University and the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Her doctoral studies emphasized both historical research and performing new music. In fulfillment of her doctoral degree, she wrote a document and performed a lecture recital about Carl Maria von Weber titled "Discovering the 'Hungarian' in Andante and Rondo: A Historical Approach to a Standard Bassoon Solo." Dr. Kritzer's major teachers include Michael Kroth, William Winstead, Robert Barris, and Darryl Durran.
You can view Dr. Kritzer's full CV here.
