Musical communicator has wide appeal

Is music a universal language?" asks Kirk Brundage, Mus.B. '88. "It is and it isn't. We're saying similar things in different ways.... If the music is strong enough-particularly instrumental music-it can communicate across cultures."

He should know. As one of the country's foremost contemporary percussionists, the 30-year-old musician-who lives in Western New York-gets to travel all over the world.

A few years ago, he was chosen for a Rotary-sponsored cultural exchange program that sent him to Japan for a month. And this past year, Brundage has been to Europe four times, giving recitals and master classes in Holland, Belgium and Germany. In Sardinia, he performed in a 12th-century church.

Aside from his European tours, Brundage recently received a Rockefeller grant to collaborate with Mexican percussionist Ricardo Gallanto. Their first performance will be held September 10 at UB's Center for the Arts, followed by another one in Mexico City.

After graduation from UB, where he studied with famed percussionist Jan Williams, Brundage received a Fulbright scholarship to study at the Royal Danish Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. He later entered and won the International Solo Music Competition of the German Radio.

Brundage also plays locally with his percussion group, the Maelstrom Quartet. "We've been working hard," he says, "and I think we've developed a sound you won't find anywhere else. We have xylophones, cymbals, gongs, and electronic instruments.... We have every kind of drum you can imagine."

The group travels throughout the northeast, treating school audiences to a percussion program for musicians and non-musicians alike. "It's important for people to know they can make music," Brundage says. "Anyone can make music."