About Harp Brian

“. . . plays from the heart . . .”

Brian has studied harp with several teachers, incorporating elements from a variety of technical lineages including Renié, Grandjany, and Salzedo. He performs with the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony and the Redwood Symphony. He enjoys giving recitals in private homes for small audiences, often via Groupmuse.

Brian holds the Doctor of Music degree in Organ Performance from Indiana University. He studied organ in Paris with the famous French organist Marie-Claire ALAIN and received a Premier Prix in organ from the Conservatoire National de Région after a year on scholarship from the French government. Click the images below to visit Brian's organ and carillon music website.

Also a carillonneur, Brian received the Final Diploma with great distinction from the Royal Belgian Carillon School after two years of study on a Fulbright-Hays grant. He won the silver medal in the 1990 Queen Fabiola International Carillon Competition in Mechelen, Belgium. In 1996 Swager was awarded a research fellowship in the Anton Brees Carillon Library at Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida, where he was in residence as a Carillon Scholar. He was Assistant Professor of Music and University Carillonneur at Indiana University where for nine years he taught carillon, piano, and organ, and played weekly recitals on the Arthur R. Metz Memorial Carillon. He is the carillon editor for The Diapason.