SWARMIUS - Trio in Residence at San Diego State University

Comprised of SAXIMUS (saxophone), Fiddlus el Gato (violin), and composer/laptop performer Jozefius Vaatierz Rattus, the trio is committed to creating a contemporary classical music and contemporary dance that reflects and connects to the music in the streets, clubs, and bedrooms of today's world. Each of SWARMIUS' members is a virtuoso in his own right.

The youngest members of the group, both barely thirty, are SAXIMUS (aka Todd Rewoldt) and Fiddlus el Gato (Felix Olschofka). SAXIMUS, the quartets' saxophonist, completed his Doctorate in Saxophone performance at the tender young age of 26 at the prestigious Eastman School of Music.

Fiddlus el Gato was a recording artist at the age of fourteen and was a star at the renowned Berliner Hochschule für Musik (Germany's best conservatory). He performed for the president of Germany at age nineteen, and concertized widely across Europe as a teenage prodigy.

Fiddlus remarks, "Most of my friends are not musicians – they are fun, active, modern young professionals from all over the world. They love classical music intensely but also want new music in a language that speaks to our time, our interests, our passions. I want to make that music for them!"

Towering Presence

At six-feet and three-inches tall, Fiddlus el Gato is a towering presence with huge hands that enfold his fragile, priceless violin.

According to SAXIMUS: Fiddlus has that whole European look going for him. You know, the 'fan' hairstyle, the tight jeans, and that lovely grin, with a laugh just behind the eyes. Each of us has a wild side. For Fiddlus this emerges when he is performing. Onstage he is a like a giant cat — prowling around the stage, making the violin sing, purr and growl, ready to pounce.

Fiddlus el Gato continues to play the great classics with orchestras throughout the world, and now is also focusing on the performance of contemporary literature, in particular, the music of SWARMIUS composer Jozefius Vaatierz Rattus (aka Joseph Waters). Jozefius is a member of the first generation of classical composers who grew up playing in rock bands, studied at Yale and has worked to create a startling musical brew that juxtaposes such odd bedfellows as hip-hop and Mahler, for example.

"I'm not interested in making simple, or, 'dumbed-down' music for the masses. On the contrary, I think in general people are smart, that the musical choices they make are important and worthy of serious consideration. I love classical music, and realize that for it to remain healthy it must connect in the most vital way with the music that most people listen to in their daily lives and that speaks to them and that they care about. I also love this music — it is where I came from and it resides deep in my gut.

Contemporary African-American Music

SAXIMUS, in addition to having impeccable chops as an avant garde classical performer, also has a deep connection and knowledge of contemporary African-American music, electronica, punk and contemporary rock. He also played bass in a punk band for several years as a teenager, and this music had a formative effect on his tastes and attitudes as a mature musician.

Equally important to his performing style are the years when he was sponsored as an amateur skateboarder. "Being a skateboarder, has taught me that you have to have balls, you have to go for it. If you are speeding across a parking lot, about to kickflip-ollie down a set of 15 stairs, you have a choice to make. Either you pull the trick or you're going to end up bloody as hell, getting stitches and picking at scabs for the next three weeks. I keep the same mentality now when performing."

Frequent Special Guest

Crotalius Red Foot (aka Joel Bluestone) was tapping things before he could walk, maintains a rigorous performance schedule of horse racing, rock drumming & head-banging. According to Crotalius, "I'm just a kid with two sticks who likes to party and extract sound from anything that does not protest too loudly." Crotalius' unique flair provides SWARMIUS with a blast of rhythmic color.

Traveling the World

SWARMIUS plays at diverse venues across the planet in places such as Bonn, Germany, Ljubljana, Slovenia, the Veneto Jazz Festival in Venice, Italy, rave club Rivolta in Marghera, Italy, Flykingen in Stockholm, Berlin, Morelia, San Diego and New York City.