Meet the Caramoor 2024 Schwab Vocal Rising Stars: Amber Scherer

Each week we will be sharing some fun stories and facts about our 2024 Schwab Vocal Rising Stars! Starting on March 11th, they will be rehearsing and living at Caramoor up until their performance on March 17th. We hope you will join us!

This week we are introduced to pianist Amber Scherer!

In a woodsy suburb of Chicago, a community of tiny creatures is alive today thanks to the compassion and young aspirations of Amber Scherer. Before piano-playing blossomed into her life’s work, this wannabe-veterinarian helped many an injured robin, bunny, and mouse (did we mention the frog?) get back on their feet and scurry into the woods. While these days she tends to handle piano keys more than furry critters, her soft spot for animals persists. 

Amber’s interest in protecting vulnerable communities extends much farther and deeper now. She staunchly believes that more needs to be done to protect the rights of women and the LGBTQ+, and she wants to see an end to violence and dehumanization across the board. 

On a smaller scale, Amber often thinks about the essentiality of the arts to humanity and the importance of arts education. “Some of my happiest memories have been studying in conservatory. However, I have personally experienced and seen in many others the ways that anxiety and self-doubt can fester,” explains this 2021 Oberlin College & Conservatory grad with degrees in both Psychology and Piano Performance. “I want to spend some of my life studying the systems in place to try making them more empathetic and egalitarian.” 

And about that anxiety, as it relates to her own concertizing, she has a few strategies to tame it.  Among them are creating quiet moments, avoiding caffeine, and storing up on nutritious veggies. (Anything her mom makes — tteokbokki, kalbi, ssam, kalguksu...anything! — can work magic on jitters). When stress arises, she can rely on the fantasy elements of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on demand or Harry Potter books. Sometimes, pre-performance, along with pacing and stretching, makeup and hair prep is therapeutic enough to get her in the zone. But those efforts are frosting on the cake for Amber, whose middle name, Ginmi — with the Korean characters 진미 — translates to "Genuine Beauty."  

Though most of her experiences as a pianist have been positive, she recalls one cringe-worthy undergrad audition. She was asked to play the fourth movement of a contemporary piece she had prepared, and what ensued was “...complete brain panic.” (We’ve all been there!) “I could not even remember what it sounded like. So, I just played the second movement and hoped they wouldn't notice,” she laughs. She was accepted to the program, so she must have gotten away with it! The genuine beauty of her music-making must have shone through.