Long formal bio:
Pianist Jocelyn Swigger grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she made her concerto debut at the age of 16. She is now Professor of Music and Coordinator of Keyboard Studies of the Sunderman Conservatory at Gettysburg College, and she is on the piano faculty at Interlochen Arts Camp. She has also taught at Fort Lewis College, the Hochstein Music School, CUNY Queensborough, and Adelphi University, and she played as a collaborative artist and accompanist for the Manhattan School of Music, the Castleman Quartet Program, the Boys Choir of Harlem Academy, and the Juilliard School. She has presented at MTNA national conferences as well as regional CMS and PMTA conferences. She performs as a solo and collaborative pianist in the United States, Europe, and South America, and has appeared as performer and teacher at the Ameropa chamber music festival in the Czech Republic and Spain. In 2013 she joined the faculty of the Richmond CMI European Chamber Music Institute for their European tour. She spent the summer of 2008 on a Fulbright Scholar Teaching Grant in Asunción, Paraguay, teaching piano and chamber music. She holds undergraduate degrees from Oberlin College and Oberlin Conservatory, and master’s and doctoral degrees from the Eastman School of Music. Her principal teachers were Rebecca Penneys and Evelyne Brancart.
“An hour of pure musical pleasure” was the BlogCritics review of her album of all the Chopin etudes, recorded with original ornaments on a Paris Erard piano tuned to a historical temperament. You can find her tutorials on playing all the Chopin etudes with small hands on YouTube. Her TEDx talk, How I Memorize Piano Music, has over 800K views. Her latest recording, of classical art songs by female composers with soprano Susan Hochmiller, is on Centaur Records. Radio broadcasts include NPR stations WBFO in Buffalo NY, WSUiR in Wichita KS, and WIPR in Interlochen WI. Jocelyn has hosted two podcasts, now very occasional: Play It Again Swig (an audio practice diary) and Just Piano Improv. You can find them on iTunes and at jocelynswigger.com.
Jocelyn has always been a musical omnivore. An advocate of new music, she has premiered works by composers including Dennis DeSantis, Payton MacDonald, Gavin Chuck, Aaron Grad, Buzz Jones, Greg Mertl, Forrest Pierce, and Allan Krantz. She has appeared on Composers Forum concerts at Eastman, Oberlin, Cornell, and NYU, and was a board member and frequent performer for Ossia New Music at Eastman. Her interest in early music has led her to study and perform on the harpsichord and fortepiano. In addition to her life as a classical musician, she has also performed on accordion, vocals, and occasional electric bass in the indie folk rock band Gettysburg Pirate Orchestra. Her recent projects include expanding the classical canon (especially to uplift the astonishing late Romantic composer Agnes Tyrrell), jam sessions with her drummer son, and studying yoga and Alexander Technique. She is very proud of learning to stand on her head at age 50. Jocelyn serves as Judge of Elections in her local precinct, and encourages you to vote in every local election. More information at jocelynswigger.com.