Focus and Philosophy:  I am the primary collaborative pianist for Radford University’s music department, coaching and performing with each music student that performs. I am also the department’s performance coach, working with each student to help them feel confident in the practice room and on the stage performing. 

Too often students aren’t shown how best to practice. Preparing for lessons, rehearsals, and performances can be overwhelming and frustrating. My goal is to help each student learn how to set achievable goals and to improve their problem solving and self-assessment skills so that practicing becomes effective and encouraging which then leads to more confident, comfortable, and musical performances. 

Thinking beyond the Radford years, I also seek to show students that these same skills acquired through practicing and performing can benefit their lives no matter the direction they choose to take. 

Background: I fell in love with music at the age of 4 as I listened to my mother practice piano. I began lessons the next year and haven’t stopped since. Growing up in San Francisco, California as a young cellist and pianist, I grew up surrounded by incredible opportunities and musicians. From an early age I started collaborating with other musicians, both my age and also professionals and it was the thrill and satisfaction that comes from performing with others that kept me mainly focused on collaborative work. 

My interest in researching practicing techniques and philosophy came about when I was the mother of a newborn child. Determined to keep up my musical life I had to learn how to learn music quickly and well in the short moments of time that happened during naptime and in between screaming fits. Fortunately I had already started developing many of these ideas when I taught the Piano Sightreading class during my graduate school years at the Eastman School of Music. When I saw the results of focused, mindful practicing and others started noticing it as well I became even more passionate about learning whatever I could and to start sharing it with others. I did this through my blog, “Beyond the Notes” which grew in notoriety in the classical music world, eventually ending up on syllabi at schools around the world, including the Juilliard School in New York City. 

In the past 10 years, improvement in my own music learning abilities has led me to start performing as a solo pianist in addition to my collaborative and coaching work. I now travel around the country performing programs that often have a focus on music composed by women (another love of mine). 

Teaching/Coaching Philosophy: One of my favorite poets, Rainer Maria Rilke, penned the following words, “If the Angel deigns to come it will be because you have convinced her, not by tears but by your humble resolve, to be always beginning; to be a beginner.” These are the words that I live and teach by. If I focus on the process of gaining whatever I am trying to achieve I am claiming that status of being a beginner and with this acknowledgment I am free to talk and collaborate with colleagues with a sense of open-mindedness and curiosity. I am inspired to write about topics that are of interest to me and to receive feedback from others. Growth is just as important for educators as it is for the students that we teach. I believe that by sharing the journey I am perpetually on with others I can also inspire others to approach life and their studies in a way that helps them take ownership of their own education and lives. 

As an educator I also believe that it is just as important to help students identify their strengths as much as it’s important to strengthen other areas. Confidence and pride in ourselves is crucial when part of our jobs as musicians is to step onto a stage in front of a crowd. Being aware of our strengths and our gifts and owning them can give us the courage we need to keep improving and performing with joy. 

Research/Scholarship/Creative Work: I am co-founder of the Alma Ensemble, a musician collective dedicated to the championing women in music and building community through music making (www.almaensemble.org). I am also co-founder of the "Piano Music She Wrote" project that catalogs and curates scores of piano music composed by women through the ages via YouTube that are available at imslp.org (www.pianomusicshewrote.com).

Author of the internationally known blog, Beyond the Notes. (ericaannsipes.blogspot.com)

For more information about Erica Sipes, please open the tabs below. If you would like a digital copy of her complete CV, please contact her at esipes@radford.edu.