Erik Johnson-Scherger
Performance Instructor: Jazz/Contemporary Violin and Viola
| Email: | erik.jjjs@gmail.com |
Erik Johnson-Scherger is a forward-looking violinist and violist, happily based in Ottawa, Ontario. As a performer, he is a genre-defying chamber-musician at home in liminal space. As a pedagogue, he believes strongly in helping his students self actualize by connecting to and developing their own musical voice, and by creating an audiation-centred framework for effortless physical execution.
At the age of six, Erik began classical training on the violin, and followed that through to the completion of a Master’s of Music from the University of Ottawa in 2019, where he studied with Yehonatan Berick, Yosuke Kawasaki, and Jean-Hee Lee. Erik also holds a Bachelor’s of Music Performance and a Diploma in Chamber Music from Wilfrid Laurier University, where he studied violin, viola, and chamber music with Jerzy Kaplanek and other members of the Penderecki String Quartet, in addition to studying improvisation with Kathryn Ladano. In the vernacular of jazz-violin and fiddle traditions, Erik is mostly self-taught, but is immensely grateful for foundational lessons and workshops with educators such as Christian Howes, Drew Jurecka, and Denis Lanctot.
Erik’s current projects include the chamber-jazz quartet Side-Eye and Grace, whose sophomore album, Illuminate, was released in 2022. He is also grateful to be a recent addition to the line-up of Canadian chamber-folk-noir trio, Musk Ox. Erik is a member of the Ottawa chapter of Ensemble Allure, a contemporary chamber collective whose first album, Dual, was released in 2024 with the support of the Ontario Arts Council. Erik also cheerfully plays as a member of Norteño, the renowned Canadian Tango Nuevo quintet, and performs in Phosphor String Duo with his partner, Renee Dahn.
In addition to serving as the violin soloist for the Canadian premiere of Tyler’s Suite in 2019, Erik has performed with the Kingston and Ottawa Symphony Orchestras as a section violinist and mandolinist, performed contemporary chamber-music at both Ottawa Jazzfest and Chamberfest, and worked as sideman, session musician, and/or bandleader for country, pop, folk, rock, disco/R&B, celtic, and jazz projects. In winter 2024, he had a wonderful time performing in sold-out venues ranging from Place Bell in Laval, QC to Massey Hall in Toronto, ON alongside Strings from Paris, backing up Juno award-winner Charlotte Cardin on Charlotte’s 99 Nights tour.
In his spare time, Erik enjoys baking cookies, practicing historical longsword fencing, running TTRPGs for his friends, and hanging out with his partner Renee and their exceedingly dog-like cat, Tofu.