Ben Swartz
  • Home
  • News
  • Concerts
  • Recordings
  • Contact
  • Repertoire
    • Concert Programs
    • Complete Repertoire
  • Gallery
  • Teaching

I am currently accepting advanced students in the Boston area. 

I teach all levels (beginner to advanced) in cello, Baroque cello, and viola da gamba, as well as beginning to intermediate students in erhu.  I've enjoyed teaching both abroad and here in the U.S. (where I completed a course in Violoncello Pedagogy at the Peabody Institute's Preparatory division), with familiarity in both Suzuki and ABRSM teaching schemes.  Recently, I've been invited as a guest lecturer on electroacoustic collaboration at Coventry University (UK), on music theory at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe (Germany), and as an artist-in-residence at the University of Trinidad & Tobago (Trinidad).
 
For intermediate and advanced students, I teach from my own method book, written in 2016, The Essential Technology of the Cello: A Textbook of the Efficient Cellist.  Aside from teaching foundational instrument technique, my teaching philosophy places particular emphasis on fostering the creative potential of my students through composition and improvisation.  Another method to successfully motivate and inspire students has been to take time each week for ensemble or duet playing.

I currently hold faculty appointments at South Shore Conservatory (Hingham, MA), Bridgewater State University (Bridgewater, MA), Endicott College (Beverly, MA), Ipswich High School (Ipswich, MA), and Rockport High School (Rockport, MA).  In past seasons I have also acted as cellist-in-residence with the Martha's Vineyard Chamber Music Society, performing concerts and teaching in the island public schools, as well as holding previous faculty appointments at the Community Music Center of Boston and during the summers at the Killington Music Festival in Rutland, Vermont.  I also coach chamber music with the Northeast Massachusetts Youth Orchestra (NMYO).

For more information about my teaching, please visit SSC's website for my teaching statement and teaching biography.

Please do not hesitate to contact me regarding lesson lengths, availability, fees, or references.

© 2022 | Ben Swartz