Yuko Asada is a musical instrument technician at Northern Illinois University where she directs the NIU Community School of the Arts Steelband and contributes to the daily operations of the NIU Steelband.

She also serves as assistant steelband director at Birch Creek Music Performance Center and steelband director at NIU Percussion Camp. Yuko attained a Bachelor of Arts degree from West Virginia University, where she was first introduced to the art of steelpan building and tuning by Ellie Mannette. She later pursued and earned a Master of Music degree and a Performer’s Certificate in steelpan from NIU, where she gained many years of steelpan building and tuning experience as an apprentice and intern to Trinidadian steelpan builder Cliff Alexis.

Yuko has presented her work at multiple conferences including at the Young Women’s Conference in Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics at Princeton University and International Conference and Panorama in Trinidad and Tobago. She conducted several workshops at various locations including Japan, Australia and Thailand. In 2009, Yuko co-founded the Pastiche Steel Ensemble, a group of musicians who perform new music for steelpan and advocate for culturally-attuned steelpan education.

She also co-founded the Virtual Steelband and Pan in Unity, online performance projects that brought together pannists from around the world. Yuko not only builds, tunes, conducts workshops and performs, but she also transcribes panorama arrangements, serves as clinician/adjudicator for steelpan festivals and competitions, and composes/arranges for steelbands and chamber groups at all levels.

For her many years of work, Yuko was the feature of a Japanese documentary show entitled Gutto Chikyubin (Earth Mail) in 2017 and will be featured again in 2020. She was invited to perform her original composition, “Opposite Attraction: 3 Short Pieces for Tenor and Bass Steelpans” at the 2019 Percussive Arts Society International Convention, and again in 2021 to present a memorial concert for Cliff Alexis.

Her works are published by MauMauMusic and Ramajay.

Earl Brooks Jr. is an internationally acclaimed steelpan musician whose journey began at birth. By age three, he was performing publicly, and at six, he played at the opening ceremony of the Brian Lara Promenade. In 1997, he performed alongside his father, Earl Brooks Sr., for then–UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

As a child prodigy, Brooks was a member of The Music Makers under Dr. Merle Albino-de Coteau and featured on his father’s album Twin Towers at eight. As a teen, he recorded Agra Jazz with Pelham Goddard and contributed to multiple projects produced by Yoichi Watanabe, including Steel Love. Throughout his early career, he has performed with legends such as Dr. Len “Boogsie” Sharpe, Arturo Tappin, Mungal Patasar, and Frankie Macintosh.

In 2003, Earl joined the Exodus Steel Orchestra, touring Japan (2005) and Europe (2006), while arranging music for youth ensembles in Trinidad. After moving to the United States, he performed at Radio City Music Hall and Lincoln Center and refined his craft at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Earl’s international career includes headlining Barbados Pan Fusion in 2014, performing with artists like Cheryl Pepsii Riley and Ray Angry, and gracing stages such as Blue Note Jazz, Nublu Classic, and Brooklyn Bowl. In 2023, he launched a steelpan program through Brooks Arts Academy and performed at the Little Mermaid premiere in Los Angeles.

Currently, Earl is preparing to release his first solo album while continuing to inspire audiences worldwide through his vibrant artistry and mastery of the steelpan.

Epic Steel Orchestra (ESO) is an unfolding story of the power of vision and the pursuit of purpose. What began as an idea to positively affect the lives of urban youth in a tough Chicago neighborhood has become a musical sensation, garnering the attention of audiences throughout the Midwest.

Epic Steel began in 2011, playing the indigenous steel drums of Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies. This energetic group is committed to performing calypso, the genre of music that gave birth to the steel drums in its native Trinidad. The Epic Steel performers bring pleasantry and accessibility to this complex musical style, and they demonstrate great flexibility and musical chops as they engage soca, reggae, Latin, Jazz, Classical, and contemporary music. They demonstrate the infectious and intricate beats of Calypso and the subtlety that is possible in performing Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee”.

The orchestra’s home is at the West Point School of Music — a community music school serving the needs of children with talent but without privilege. Epic Steel is the premier performing ensemble of the school. The long-term vision is for the ensemble to boast a membership of 100 players from some of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side. Epic Steel currently has members assist in instructing new students as a part of their service to this transformative vision.

Julian J. Champion, a civic and socially conscious leader, is the founder of West Point School of Music and the director of this dynamic ensemble.