Fiddlus el Gato, violin (founding member)
AKA Felix Olschofka
Originally from Bonn, Germany, he began his violin studies at the age of five with his mother, and at fourteen entered pre-college studies with Professor Michael Gaiser at the “Robert Schumann School of Music” in Düsseldorf. Felix is a winner of numerous awards and competitions, including 1st prize of the prestigious German Youth Music Competition (Solo Instrument and Chamber Music Category), 2nd prize of the International Chamber Music Competition “Charles Hennen” in the Netherlands and a grant of the Oscar and Vera Ritter Foundation. His professional background includes service as Concertmaster of the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra from 2000-2003 and Assistant Concertmaster of the Brandenburg Philharmonic in Potsdam, Germany, for its 1998 / 99 season.
Crotalius Redfoot, percussion (founding member)
AKA Joel Bluestone
B.A. from UCSD. Studied with Jean-Charles Francois. Played in Sonor and the La Jolla Civic Orchestra. Post UCSD, Joel was off to New York to receive his M.M. and D.M.A. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. His principal teachers include contemporary percussionists Raymond Des Roches and Richard Horowitz, Principal Timpanist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Current day job is Professor of Music at Portland State University, where he has served as the head of the percussion department since 1989. In addition, he is Assistant Chairperson of the Music Department and Graduate coordinator. He is entering his 17th year as Co-Founder/Percussionist with the Northwest premiere contemporary new music ensemble “Fear No Music”. Joel is Principal Timpanist with the Sinfonia Concertante Orchestra and has been the Principal Timpanist with the Missouri Symphony.
Schrodinger᾿s Sax, soprano and alto saxophones
AKA Michael Couper
A classically trained saxophonist with a background in stage acting and melodrama whose current favorite artist is electronica wunderkind Zedd, Michael Couper (Schrodinger’s Sax) has found a perfect home in the electrifying cross-genre group SWARMIUS . A wearer of many hats, Dr. Couper is equally engaged as a performer, teacher, conductor, scholar, software engineer, and music publisher. Finding great difficulty in settling on a major in college, Couper became enthralled with interdisciplinary studies and the ways in which many contrasting points of view and subjects of study contribute to the greatest possible expression of one’s own personality and musical artistry. His current projects include the development of a digital practice assistant that seek to transform the way private teachers interact with their students as they practice away from the studio, and grant access to rigorous study to those students who do not have access to private tutors. Seeking his path after having pushed straight through three music degrees, Dr. Couper became reinvigorated by the introduction to rave music and culture, finding in it and the capacity to reconnect with the fundamental musical underpinnings of communication and cognition, granting hope for the future of music as it relates to our increasingly digital culture.
Rudy Giron, (Hyacinthus)
Rudy Giron plays the role of Francisco in The Magic Hummingbird.
Winner of the 2017 legacy award by the National Opera Association.
Ian Buss
Saxophonist/Composer/Educator Ian Buss is a collaborative musician rooted in jazz and blues. He toured the United States with Grammy-nominated singer Sugaray Rayford, including headliner performances at festivals such as Bluesapalooza, Columbia Pike Blues Festival, and Big Bull Falls Blues Fest.
The Sugaray Rayford Band was nominated for Band of the Year at the 2019 Blues Music Awards. Ian has also shared the stage with jazz trumpeters Gilbert Castellanos and Jon Faddis, Afro-Cuban percussionist Bobby Sanabria, Santana bassist Benny Rietveld, and numerous others.
Ian has composed and arranged for jazz orchestra, jazz combos, and classical chamber ensembles. In 2019, he founded the band Blue Morpho and joined contemporary chamber ensemble SWARMIUS. Both groups’ music addresses human rights and other contemporary social issues.
Passionate about music education, Ian has run his own private lesson studio since 2009. He taught saxophone at Palomar College, directed ensembles at the Young Lions Jazz Conservatory, and conducted jazz theory and woodwinds masterclasses at the UCSD Jazz Camp. He also served as Artist-In-Residence at Torrey Pines High School, where he taught improvisation and big band ensemble skills, and has coached beginners at public elementary schools.
Ian holds a Master of Music degree from New England Conservatory and a BFA from The New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music. In 2018 he participated in the prestigious Banff Centre’s Workshop for Jazz & Contemporary Music directed by Vijay Iyer and Tyshawn Sorey.
Ian Buss: Saxitoxin
ianbuss.com
Instagram: @jazz_buss
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