Sunderman Conservatory of Music

Prof. Jocelyn Anne Kovaleski Swigger, a pianist, grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she made her concerto debut at the age of 16. Known for her expressive playing, varied programming, and informative concert lectures, she performs as a solo and collaborative pianist in the United States, Europe, and South America. 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 include Rebecca Penneys, Evelyne Brancart, and Joseph Schwartz.

She is professor of music and coordinator of keyboard studies for the Sunderman Conservatory of  Music at Gettysburg College. Before coming to Gettysburg, Swigger taught at Fort Lewis College, the Hochstein Music School, CUNY Queensborough, and Adelphi University, and played as a collaborative artist and accompanist for the Manhattan School of Music, the Castleman Quartet Program, the Boys Choir of Harlem, and the Juilliard School. She has presented at the MTNA national conference as well as regional CMS and PMTA conferences. She has regularly 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.

Swigger is a Con Brio Recording Artist. Her CD Rhythms and Blues: American Piano Music was praised in Gramophone Magazine as “just the right amount of swagger from Swigger, with a brave coda to boot,” and listed as MusicWeb International’s Record of the Month. American Record Guide called it “racy, highly enjoyable” and said, “[Swigger] is adept in projecting the crunch and swagger…as she is in evoking the delicate clouds of sound…her languid sensuality…is seductive.” Her latest recording is Troublesome Moon (and Other Forgotten Tin Pan Alley Gems). Radio broadcasts include NPR stations WBFO in Buffalo NY, WSUiR in Wichita KS, and WIPR in Interlochen WI.

Swigger is 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.  In recent years, 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 current project is learning all of Chopin’s etudes and learning to improvise in the classical style. She is chronicling that experience in the Play It Again Swig and Piano Improv podcasts available on iTunes, Stitcher, and at playitagainswig.com