Niemi, Patricia

Acting Principal Percussion

Patti Niemi has been a member of the percussion section of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra since 1992. She has made sound and video recordings with San Francisco Opera including Turandot, The Merry Widow, the contemporary operas Harvey Milk and Dead Man Walking, and the Opera's first orchestral recording entitled Symphony at the Opera. Prior to joining the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Ms. Niemi was a member of the New World Symphony from 1988-1992, under Music Director, Michael Tilson Thomas. Also a writer, Ms. Niemi was published in the New York Times' Modern Love column in April, 2024. Her first book, a memoir entitled Sticking It Out, won a 2017 Independent Publisher Book Award Medal. Ms. Niemi earned a Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School in 1987.