Brian Baumbusch is a composer and multi-instrumentalist whose “harmonically vivid… intense… simmering” (NY Times) compositions push the boundaries of new music. He has spearheaded projects of both western and non-western music that are considered a “cultural treat” (Maryland Gazette). He has headlined performances at the Bali Arts Festival in Denpasar, The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, The Clarice Smith Center of Maryland, and Kresge Hall at MIT, Cambridge, among others. He has worked extensively with artists such as The JACK Quartet, Pauline Oliveros, Larry Polansky, Wayne Vitale, I Made Bandem, and Paul Dresher. In 2013, Baumbusch founded The Lightbulb Ensemble, a new-music gamelan ensemble performing on percussion instruments that he designed and built. He continues to be an influential force in the California gamelan community, both with his work in directing the Lightbulb Ensemble, as well as his work as director of the Santa Clara University Balinese Gamelan Ensemble and the U.C. Santa Cruz Balinese Gamelan ensemble, where Baumbusch currently resides.
