Erica has lived most of her life in the greater New York area, working in book publishing. Over the years she worked for Cambridge University Press, Macmillan Learning, The College Board, and John Wiley & Sons as an editor and developer of college textbooks and instructor resources in the humanities before retiring in 2021. The disciplines she worked in included English, Communications, Journalism, Business, History, Linguistics, and ESOL. 

Erica has been singing in choruses for many years, since her college days. Her previous choral music experience is varied and includes singing in small groups, such as Ember in Jersey City/NYC; in big choruses, such as the Greenwich Village Singers in NYC (before it became the smaller Greenwich Village Chamber Singers); in church choirs, such as the choir at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Newark; and in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, where she met her husband and fellow-chorister, Chuck Appel.  In 2017 she moved to Princeton and joined Princeton Pro Musica. She joined the PPM board in 2021 and has had the honor to serve as board president since 2024. She also sings in the Adult Choir at Trinity Episcopal Church in Princeton.