Sylvia Schwartz

Deeply inspired by the relationship between music, movement, and dance, violinist and Dalcrozian Sylvia Schwartz is a passionate chamber musician in both modern and historical performance practices. The power of music to heal and to bring us together drives Sylvia to perform wherever she can, from the Scarborough COVID-19 vaccine clinic to Shostakovich Hall in St. Petersburg, Russia—and many places in between. With her partner, cellist/gambist John Ott, as Guts Baroque, she has been determinedly reimagining the possibilities of historically-informed chamber music performances, rising out of the ashes of March 2020 to play a new livestreamed concert each month and looking ahead to the opportunities of digital production. In the “before times,” Sylvia performed with Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, Los Angeles Baroque, L’Esprit Baroque, LA Master Chorale, Harvard Baroque, Eudaimonia: A Purposeful Period Band, and the Amherst Baroque Academy opera orchestra, with Nicholas McGegan, Martin Haselboeck, Gary Thor Wedow, Cynthia Roberts, Phoebe Carrai, Sarah Darling, Lindsey Strand-Polyak, Alexa Haynes-Pilon, and others. Sylvia earned a M.Mus. in Violin Performance from Longy School of Music, where she studied violin with Laura Bossert and historically-informed performance with Dana Maiben, Na’ama Lion, and Vivian Montgomery. She has continued her education with Julie Andrijeski and Elizabeth Blumenstock. She also earned a B.S. in Engineering from Olin College. Sylvia enjoys nurturing vivid, historically-informed playing in her students of all ages and experiences, and is thrilled to join the Portland Bach Experience community!