Magpie Percussion
Jacob Kryger, Nicole Arendt, François-Xavier Leroy &
Martin Bui,
with special guest, Kevin Yue, trumpet
Sunday, May 2, 2027 - 3:00 pm
St. Albert United Church
L to R: Martin Bui, François-Xavier Leroy, Nicole Arendt, Jacob Kryger
Founded in 2026, Magpie Percussion takes its inspiration from Edmonton’s official bird: noisy, mischievous, stubborn, resourceful, and capable of surprising beauty. Magpie Percussion seeks to educate and captivate audiences with everything from traditional instruments to pots, pans, and knickknacks looted from home.
Drawing inspiration from the corvid appreciation for shiny things, trinkets, and tools, Magpie Percussion performs on an ever-expanding collection of struck, scraped, and shaken instruments — marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, cymbals, slide whistles, triangles, drums, and, inevitably, at least one instrument that no one knew how to play before choosing the repertoire. As for mallet selection, let’s just say the collection is cripplingly vast.
Magpie Percussion is Jacob Kryger, Nicole Arendt, François-Xavier Leroy, and Martin Bui, who bring diverse musical experiences to come together and play chamber music old and new. They are excited to share the joy of percussion ensemble music with audiences (pending successful transport of gear).
Edmonton-born Jacob Kryger is a dextrous percussionist with a compelling music career. Since 2017, Jacob has performed regularly with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra percussion section and has been featured as a soloist on multiple occasions. Jacob has travelled the country lending his skills to other orchestras as well including the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, GFN Productions, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Saskatoon Symphony and Kamloops Symphony. Jacob regularly collaborates as a percussionist with many other musical organizations in Edmonton including many choirs and chamber music groups.
Jacob’s enthusiasm for percussion goes beyond performance. As an educator, Jacob is delighted to have grown his private studio in recent years ¾ both at home and at Concordia University of Edmonton. Jacob loves to see his students grow and succeed in music but also see how the joy of music affects and benefits students’ whole lives. Jacob is thrilled to be starting as the new percussion instructor at the Winspear Conservatory of Music.
Jacob received his Bachelor of Music with Distinction from the University of Alberta studying with Brian Jones and his Master of Music from the University of British Columbia studying with Vern Griffiths, Michael Jarrett and Aaron McDonald.
Nicole Arendt is an Edmonton-based percussionist, timpanist, composer, improviser, and certified Iyengar Yoga teacher. Some of her earliest memories involve sound: scraping a metal air return grate in the hallway like a guiro, twanging spring door stops, and spinning her grandmother’s hand-crank egg beater across a textured linoleum floor. Those early experiences of listening, experimentation, and play laid the foundation for her life in percussion.
Raised in Edmonton, Nicole spent 25 years on Vancouver Island before returning to her hometown. She is Principal Timpanist of the Vancouver Island Symphony and performs regularly with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and other Alberta ensembles. Her recent work includes performances with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony, and the Royal Canadian Artillery Band. As co-director and marimbist of Brave New Band, she helps create original work that brings together composition and improvisation; in 2024, the ensemble performed at the Edmonton International Jazz Festival. Nicole holds degrees in percussion performance from the University of Victoria and the University of Alberta.
François-Xavier was born in France, in Chartres. It’s at a very young age that drumsticks found their way into his hands. After tasting the “magic potion” — not wine, but ensemble percussion music — he joined the Royal Flemish Conservatory of Brussels in Belgium, where he earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in classical and contemporary percussion.
His passion for orchestral playing grew through various experiences, starting with the French Youth Orchestra, the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, and the Orchestre de la Francophonie. He later specialized by deepening his love for timpani and orchestral percussion, with or without conductor, performing with ensembles such as the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, Les Dissonances, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Orchestre National de France.
Since moving to Canada — trading Belgian beer for maple syrup — François-Xavier has been the principal percussionist of the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra and the Pedagogical Coordinator at the Alliance Française of Halifax. He combines his passion for ensemble music with his love of human connection. You might spot FX training for his next marathon in the streets of Edmonton or continuing to nurture his passion for music with ensembles such as the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra or the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra.
Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Martin Bui is a sought-after timpanist and percussionist in the Edmonton area. He first began drum set lessons at the age of seven after his parents introduced him to Phil Collins. He saw his first orchestra concert in fourth grade, played his first gig in seventh grade, and since then he has built a diverse career as an orchestral performer and dedicated educator. For the 2023/2024 season, he was the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s principal percussionist. He is also the Front Ensemble Caption Head for Northern Empire Performing Arts, and a founding member of Edmonton-based Magpie Percussion.
Since 2019, Martin regularly appears with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and has performed as timpanist and percussionist with ensembles such as the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Canadian Artillery Band, and the Colburn Orchestra. He was a timpani/percussion fellow at the 2019 Vancouver Symphony Orchestral Institute, and served as the assistant timpanist of the Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra in Boulder, Colorado for two seasons. He holds a Master of Music in Percussion Performance (2023) from California State University, Long Beach, and a Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance (2021) from the University of Alberta.
Martin Bui proudly endorses Zildjian Cymbals and Dragonfly Percussion.