Todd Swingle is an innovative composer, performer, and educator in Northern Colorado

As a composer, his works have won awards in both acoustic and electronic mediums including the 2017 Arts Innovation Award at the University of Northern Colorado for his composition “Saturn-10 Split”, for bowling ball and interactive electronics and the Anne Culver Student Composition Commission from the Playground Ensemble for his composition “Inferno”, for soprano and piano. Dr. Swingle’s compositions have been performed across the United States by chamber ensembles The Playground, In Triplicate, and the Gustavus Adolphus Percussion Ensemble, saxophonist Jan Berry Baker, soprano Felicia Chen, violinist Sarah Whitnah, and percussionist Rachel Hargroder among others. Dr. Swingle frequently performs as a percussionist and bassist in addition to performing his own interactive electronic compositions for unconventional instruments.

Dr. Swingle holds degrees in music composition from Gustavus Adolphus College, the University of Denver, and a Doctor of Arts in composition from the University of Northern Colorado where his dissertation “Chroma” focused on the interactive process of using live instruments to generate colors and images on a screen to tell a visual narrative of the music. In addition to teaching music theory and aural skills at the University of Northern Colorado where he is currently on faculty, Dr. Swingle also teaches music composition at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. Previously, he has taught at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music, Colorado Mountain College in Breckenridge, Colorado, and the Thompson School District in Loveland, Colorado. When he is not composing or teaching, Dr. Swingle enjoys backpacking, skiing, and otherwise being outside with his wife Kathryn.