09/07/2026
★COMING THIS WEEK - Christopher Biggs, Composer; Ben Schmidt-Swartz, Saxophones; and Erik Sowa, Drums
Friday, September 11 @ 7:30pm in Dalton Center Recital
The trio lives in the moment, reacting to each other and developing material extemporaneously. The electronics imitate, vary, and extend the acoustic sound, in addition to providing material not based on the performance. The acoustic performance responds to these distinct sounds, allowing the music to develop freely, like three highly skilled conversationalists exploring a shared topic or a sports team elegantly adapting to changing scenarios.
Get your tickets!
╰┈➤https://wmumusic.ludus.com/index.php
ABOUT the Performers:
➤Ben Schmidt-Swartz is a Chicago born saxophonist, composer and educator, living and working in Chicago and Northwest Indiana. Ben holds both a Bachelors, and Masters in music from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, where he also taught, and will be teaching in the fall of 2026. He is now teaching and freelancing throughout Chicago, performing with some of Chicago’s finest improvisers including Peter Maunu, Avreeyal Ra, Bill Harris, Vincent Davis, Jim Baker, Ed Wilkerson, and Preyas Roy just to name a few. His main interest is playing music of great expressive, creative, unifying and spiritual power, and loves to straddle the line between absolute freedom of expression, and stoic traditionalism.
➤Christopher Biggs is a composer, electronic music performer, and multimedia artist residing in Kalamazoo, MI, where he serves as Professor of Music Composition and Technology at Western Michigan University. Biggs’ recent projects focus on developing and performing a live electronic music system for both in-person and networked performances.
➤Erik Sowa is a Chicago based drummer/percussionist whose musical directions are informed by free improvization, jazz, ambient/noise, post rock, and afro-beat traditions. In recent years, Erik has collaborated with a wide range of performers of varied musical genres including Extraordinary Popular Delusions, Jeb Bishop, Mai Sugimoto, Thomas Comerford, and Snek Trio. In 2022, Erik released a self-titled solo album of instrumental compositions titled "Cedar Lake Recordings Vol. 1" which was reviewed in Dusted Magazine. Also, Erik's solo drum set/percussion album titled "Mossy Alchemy" has recently been released on the label Sliptoh Recordings in June of this year.
