Aaron Spevak is an international educator, clinician, and performer who, although officially domiciled in the U.S., spends much of his calendar year in Vilnius, Lithuania (Europe). From 2013-15, Aaron studied at the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven, Belgium under the instruction of marimba virtuoso Ludwig Albert (Belgium), marimba/percussion assistant/specialist Lin Chin Cheng (Taiwan) and percussion specialist Luk Artois (Belgium). Aaron began his European studies in 2011 at Anton Bruckner University, in Linz, Austria where he studied that year under the tutelage of marimba master Bogdan Bacanu (Romania) and snare drumming/timpanist extraordinaire Leonhard Schmidinger (Austria).
Aaron is the assistant director of Spevak Percussion Concepts, Inc. – a family-owned percussion education facility in Oswego, IL. Spevak Percussion Concepts, Inc. is one of the largest privately owned percussion schools in the USA, specializing in the instruction of all major drumming and percussion instruments. Aaron represents the 7th consecutive generation of professional drummers in his family.
In the summer of 2006 and 2007, Aaron began his Drum Corps International career with the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps, from Dubuque, IA. Soon after in the fall of 2007, Aaron fulfilled his childhood dream of becoming a member of the world class Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps, from Rosemont, IL. Simultaneously in the winter of 2009, Aaron was a performing member of the WGI ensemble Redline, an indoor percussion group from Canton, MI. Aaron was the center marimba and section leader of the front ensemble for all three of his seasons (2009, 2010, 2011).
The 2010 summer marching season led Aaron to Fort Mill, S.C. where he toured with the Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps. In 2011, Aaron was selected to perform in the front ensemble (timpani) with the 15-time world champion Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps, from Concord, CA. During the touring season with the Blue Devils, Aaron was the recipient of a gold medal for his I & E (solo and ensemble) performance. With his original timpani composition titled “SIX,” (symbolic of his 6 years touring in DCI) Aaron received the highest score of the competition across all the captions of 300 participants including color guard, brass, woodwinds, vocal and all percussion. With a score of 98.5, Aaron also set a record for the highest timpani score ever awarded in the history of Drum Corps International.
After taking one summer off after aging-out from the DCI, Aaron served as a front ensemble technician at the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps. Throughout his career, Aaron has also taught many outstanding high school and college percussion programs including North Central College, Oswego East High school, Oswego High school, Sandwich High School, Marion Catholic Marching Band (7 time BOA Grand National Champion/34th consecutive Illinois State Champion), Plymouth-Canton High School, and DrumSpirit (Belgium), along with many outstanding programs all throughout Poland. Aaron currently serves as the Percussion Caption Head for Oswego High School and also teaches the Concert Percussion program when he is in the Chicagoland area.
From 2015 until present, Aaron has brought the teaching methods of Spevak Percussion Concepts to Vilnius, Lithuania which serves as the foundation for ‘Iron Wolf Percussion Ensemble’. Iron Wolf Percussion Ensemble (also founded by Aaron) is the first ever drumline and front ensemble in the Baltic States to follow the teaching methods and approach of an American drumline. Iron Wolf Percussion Ensemble has served as the umbrella organization for many other successful projects including a Special Needs drumline and an entertainment drumline for local professional basketball teams in their large-scale arenas via LKL (Lithuania’s version of the NBA). Aaron takes much pride and joy in sending Lithuanian students to tour and compete in Drum Corps International, as he feels the wealth of knowledge they gain and bring back to Lithuania is invaluable to the growth of the program.
Aaron is currently endorsed by and supports world-class percussion equipment manufacturers Remo, Inc. (drumheads and world percussion), Innovative Percussion (drumsticks and mallets) and Roland (electronics).
