Our Story

The Swain Studio has existed since 2014 through various iterations and names. Originally, the collective group of students owner/founder Justin T. Swain taught, were referred to simply as “The Swain Music Studio” as means of quickly identifying those students he worked with at The Ohio State University School of Music as a graduate teaching associate, as well as a brick-and-mortar school he later co-owned where he also taught intermediate piano, ukulele, and beginner cello lessons. As time progressed and the desire to enter the academic sphere emerged after being approached to teach musical theater voice, students who studied under his tutelage at Ohio University were simply referred to as, “Swain Squad,” and later “The Swain Studio.”

After shifting the focus of his teaching into academia, he quickly realized something was missing: a sense of community of likeminded early career teachers who were passionate about the art of teaching, sharing their ideas, and collectively challenging one another to constantly strive for excellence in their teaching and in their students’ progress.

After being selected as a National Association of Teachers of Singing Intern for the 2023-2024 year, he was deeply inspired and motivated by his time learning under Mike Ruckles during a nine-day residency at Florida State University, to re-imagine how he could combine his passion for teaching with his desire to create a business model that works to benefit the teachers who share his philosophies on the state of music and music education in Central Ohio.

In 2025, The Swain Studio now functions as a multi-teacher studio, which aims to foster a strong sense of community among students, faculty, and staff, while also affording highly skilled fine arts educators the opportunity to scale their private teaching businesses to suit the needs of their evolving personal lives.

Our Values

We believe that teaching is a privilege.

We believe that music has the potential to transform lives.

We believe in the healing power of the study of music.

We believe that music can help us express and discover our true authentic selves.

We believe that it is our responsibility to make our corner of the world brighter through a shared love of music and music-making.

We believe that all students deserve high quality instruction in their learning with vetted industry professionals.