Walter Kitundu
Walter Jesse Kitundu (born July 3, 1973) is a musical instrument builder, graphic artist, and musical composer from San Francisco, California.
Biography[]
Kitundu was born in Rochester, Minnesota and spent his early years in Tanzania. He returned to Minnesota from age 8 to 25, then moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in approximately 1998. He currently lives in Chicago.
Career and Works[]
Described as a renaissance man, Kitundu is inventor of the "", a stringed instrument incorporating a phonograph. After hearing the instrument, the Kronos Quartet hired Kitundu as their "instrument builder in residence". In addition to a phonoharp he also built a "phonoharp" for each of the quartet's members.[1] For the song "Tèw semagn hagèré" on their 2009 album Floodplain, he created new instruments inspired by the begena, an Ethiopian 10-string lyre.[2]
As of 2008 Kitundu is a "Multimedia Artist" with the Exploratorium, artist in residence at the Headlands Center for the Arts, and a Distinguished visiting professor of "Wood Arts" at the California College of the Arts.[1]
Kitundu is also a wildlife photographer, with a specialty in hawks and other raptors.
Awards[]
In September 2008, Kitundu won a MacArthur fellowship.[1]
References[]
- ^ a b c Sam Whiting (2008-09-23). "MacArthur awarded to Walter Kitundu". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ Tsioulcas, Anastasia (2009). Floodplain (CD booklet). Kronos Quartet. Nonesuch Records. #518349.
External links[]
- kitundu.com - professional website
- American male composers
- 21st-century American composers
- Inventors of musical instruments
- Living people
- MacArthur Fellows
- Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area
- Artists from the San Francisco Bay Area
- People from Rochester, Minnesota
- 1973 births
- 21st-century American male musicians