4.10.11 – Tours, Academy Francis Poulenc, Le Monde, Renaud Machart

“Erika Switzer is one of the best collaborative pianists I have ever heard; her sound is deep, her interpretation intelligent, refined, and captivating.”

“Erika Switzer, est, elle, l’une des meilleures pianistes partenaires qu’on ait entendues : sonorité profonde, jeu finement intelligent et captivant.“

17.02.11 – New York, Frick Collection, Opera Britannia

“Less heralded, but perhaps as important, and clearly as gratifying to his audience, was the New York debut of Canadian tenor Colin Balzer at the Frick Collection, one of New York’s turn-of-the-century mansions. The music room seats a few hundred at best, and is one of the toniest places in the city for a vocal or chamber recital. In a program of Britten (Winter Wind, and a handful of folk songs) and Schubert, Balzer showed himself to be one of the finest lied and oratorio singers to come before this public in years, with a voice very much in the tradition of a Wunderlich:  individual in effect,  finely calibrated to the material, and so beautifully nuanced that he might have been a throwback to another age. He was accompanied by Erika Switzer, a pianist of equal merit and capacity for coloration. One would give much to hear her in her own solo evening of Schubert.”

13.12.10 – New York, Frick Collection, blog response

“I was even more over the moon, perhaps, about Switzer. She has
apparently recorded a lot for CBC, but I can’t find any You Tubes for
you. She has won piano prizes, including as best pianist as The
WIgmore International Song Competition and is currently at Juilliard
in a PhD program. She apparently has a weekly podcast which I intend
to subscribe to. Her playing had a drama and fluidity, particulary in
the Haydn and Schubert, which is in my experience rare in
accompanists, and make me want to hear her very much in solo recital,
where she seems able to make a story through coloration and phrasing
of anything she touches.”

12.12.10 – New York, Frick Collection, Opera News Online, David Shengold

“Partnered by the excellent, sonorous pianist Erika Switzer”

7.8.10 – Ottawa, Chamberfest 2010 Blog, Jennifer Higgs

“Last, but not least, I come to pianist Erika Switzer. Now to begin, I must admit that I’m not 100% sure that this is her name, which is an absolute shame. She is not written in the little leaflet program I have and she does not have a bio online. However, her name is  listed on the website as one of the performers for this evening. If I’m wrong about this, please correct me!  Switzer was the glue that held everything together this evening. She accompanied everyone, meaning she put a solid hour and a half on the piano tonight with four different performers, including three different instruments. Switzer is an extremely expressive pianist with a face that emotes just as often and as effectively as the vocalists. I was sitting there this evening thinking that she is the epitome of the term “collaborative pianist”. She contributed to every performance in such a way that the evening would be dramatically altered had she not been there encouraging, supporting, and listening to each performer at every note. Switzer was an absolute star, albeit a humble star, on the stage this evening.”

12.9.09 – Vancouver Sun, David Gordon Duke

“And, in perhaps the subtlest role of all, pianist Erika Switzer provided the musical core of the experience. Switzer is far too good a collaborative pianist to ever steal the show. But we need to remember that the singers present the great tunes and the words of poets; It’s the piano that carries the soul of Robert Schumann’s music.”

14.6.09 – Vancouver Sun, David Gordon Duke

“…Francis Poulenc’s witty and sophisticated Fiançailles pour rire. Here Soprano Martha Guth and pianist Erika Switzer performed with tailored elegance, an interpretation that was as smart as it was stylish.”

8.2.05 – Baden-Baden, Badisches Tagblatt

“In Erika Switzer, einer hervorragenden Pianistin, fand [er] die passende Partnerin am Klavier, die jede musikalische Emotion, ob Glueck oder Trauer, Wut, Verzweiflung oder Witz, wunderbar zu unterstreichen verstand”

“In excellent pianist Erika Switzer, Balzer has found the fitting partner, who knows how to underline every musical emotion, whether happiness, mourning, anger, desperation or humour.”

8.2.05 – Baden-Baden, Badische Neueste Nachrichten

“Schon bei den Schubert-Liedern konnte sich Erika Switzer als brillante Pianistin vorstellen, die sich technisch souveraen, ausdrucksstark und stilsicher zeigte, ohne sich dabei gegeueber dem Tenor zu sehr in den Vordergrund zu draengen. Das sollte sich das ganze Konzert ueber so fortsetzen, ihr Spiel war einfach rundum faszinierend und gut.”

“Already in the 4 Schubert songs, Erika Switzer could introduce herself as a brilliant, expressive and informed pianist with technical confidence, without pushing herself, ahead of the tenor, into the foreground. She continued in this way throughout the concert. Her playing was simply fascinating and always good.”

2.04.05 – Montréal, Le Devoir, François Tousignant

“Soutenue par une pianiste absolument fantastique – À suivre cette Erika Switzer: elle s’avère «accompagnatrice» de premier ordre, déjà si jeune.”

12.12.05 – Bielefeld, Westfalen-Blatt

“Da traf es sich vorzöglich, dass Duncan und Switzer die Verpflichtung zur Deutung des Textes sehr ernst nehmen und ihre mitteilende Klangrede unendlich viele Schattierungen und Nuancen kennt. Liedgestaltung begreift Erika Switzer keineswegs als schmückendes Begleitwerk, sondern als eigenständige, kommentierende Stimme, die sie sehr pointiert und akzentbewusst auszuspielen versteht.”

“Erika Switzer definitely doesn’t believe Song Interpretation to be a decorative accompaniment; rather, as an independent, commentating voice, which she plays with specificity and well-accentuated phrasing. Musically on one wavelength, the duo produced captivating and addictive music.”

13.12.05 – Bielefeld, Neue Westfälische

Ein Ausnahmetalent am Flügel: “Sie ist immer ganz im Ausdruck und lotet Extreme aus, aber immer im Dienst des Textes. Die extreme liegen ihr, aber ohne einen Hauch von Exaltiertheit.”

“It is essential to solid dramatic presentation to have a piano-partner with mature musical and rhetorical abilities. Erika Switzer is such an exceptional talent. She is also highly decorated: 2003 [1st prize, Wigmore Hall] and 2004 [1st prize, Schumann Competition]. Her commitment to expression and fully-engaged playing always remains in service of the text… Extreme playing suits her, but without even a hint of exaggerations.”