Teaching
teaching philosophy
Teaching is the greatest teacher.
“Teaching is a natural extension of my creative process as a performer. Students arrive in my classroom and studio as whole artists ready to be understood and nurtured into a higher form of themselves. It is not my job to change them, but to examine the complexities of their habits, clearing away the unhelpful and reinforcing the good, while offering guidance in their own investigative skills and knowledgeable insight within their chosen field. Ultimately, I have succeeded if they no longer need me and I am thrilled when I see them thrive.”
- Erika Switzer
Erika Switzer and Kayo Iwama gather after a concert at the Beattie Powers Estate, given by their students in the Bard College Graduate Vocal Arts Program, 2017.
as an educator
Switzer is an active teacher, serving on the music faculty at Bard College since 2010, the Graduate Vocal Arts Program of the Bard Conservatory of Music since 2012, and directing the Collaborative Piano Fellowship since 2019. Her work centers on diction for singers, vocal coaching, and chamber music. She created Bard Music Connects to build relationships with Bard’s surrounding communities and oversees students performances with presenters including the Albany Symphony, Northern Dutchess Hospital, and Kinderhook Concerts in the Village. As outreach and its meaning evolve in the spring of 2020, Bard Music Connects has become a vehicle to share the work of students while they navigate quarantine life.
Erika Switzer has been on the faculty of several summer programs, including the Vancouver International Song Institute, the CoOPERAtive Program at Westminster Choir College, and the St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar at Stanford. She received her doctorate from The Juilliard School.
Erika gives a coaching at Bard College’s Laszló Bito Conservatory.
Erika gives a coaching at Bard College’s Laszló Bito Conservatory.