Teacher Profile: Rachael Swanson

About Rachael Swanson

Ms. Swanson’s degrees include a Bachelor of Music in Instrumental Music Education from Youngstown State University as well as a Master of Music and Post Graduate Degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She relocated to Houston to commence a Doctorate of Music Arts at the University of Houston under assistantship and stipend.

In addition to freelancing with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and Houston Symphony Orchestra, Rachael has been a strong member of the education community for more than 13 years as a private instructor of oboe, piano, and music theory. She also assisted in teaching music history to undergraduate students at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Ms. Swanson has also served as a guest artist, teaching masterclasses at Youngstown State University as well as performing with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland OperaCircle and the Warren Philharmonic. Prominent teachers and coaches include Russ deLuna, Jonathan Fischer, Robert Atherholt, Eugene Izotov, Mingjia Liu and Linda Walsh.

Past endeavors include a semester spent in Newcastle, Australia studying oboe under the direction of Linda Walsh and Baroque music under Rosalind Halton. In addition to her oboe studies, she co-authored the article "An oboist’s journey - improving velopharyngeal control through exercises" on palate deficiencies in musicians, under Linda Walsh. The article is published in the journal The Double Reed.