This comes as no surprise, but this virus has caused major disruptions to the music world (the WHOLE world really).  Artists all over the world are trying to find ways to stay relevant and productive during this unprecedented downtime.  Keep an eye on YouTube and Facebook pages for live-from-home concerts/recitals, and look for opportunities to take online lessons with some of your favorite artists (even the big names aren’t touring right now!). Personally, I wil be adding content to my YouTube Channel and social media pages.  Additionally, I added a merch store where you can buy Schwebke Music and Schwebke Instrument Restoration[…]

The last week was a busy one!  Flights to and from Chicago, the October rendition of the Jazz Trials (an awful lot of SNOW for a Halloween) and the premiere of Aaron Gage’s new work for Steelpan and Wind Ensemble! I just wanted to take a moment to thank Aaron for composing yet another piece of music for me.  This is his third ensemble work that features steelpan and his first for large wind ensemble.  It’s so much fun to have composers like Aaron create new pieces for me and to play my part in getting these works out there for[…]

Taylor and I just got home a few hours ago from an incredible little festival in Argentina. The Fundación Cultural Patagonia International Percussion Festival was truly awesome.  It’s like a miniature PASIC smack dab in the middle of Argentina.  Run by the FCP and Angel Frette of the Instatuto Universitario Patagónico de Artes, this festival is well-organized, nicely paced, and represents a wide slice of the percussion realm. This year’s festival featured 10 or so artists (or groups), each one giving a headline performance and masterclass/clinic.  Ramón Montagner from Brasil presented a very cool concert demonstrating his unique musical style (and insane chops!),[…]

I had been planning a blog post about my upcoming Argentina trip and a few other announcements, but that will wait. Al O’Connor, the founder of the NIU Steelband and long-time leader of the NIU Percussion program and dean of the School of Music has passed away. I wrote the following on Facebook yesterday when I heard Al had passed: The NIU Percussion and Steelband Family has lost another icon. Al O’Connor was a visionary, great educator, funny story teller and the kind of guy you want in your corner as an artist. Not only did he found the NIU[…]