WHAT IS TAIKO TEN? Taiko Ten is a casual concert that provides performance opportunities for organizations in attendance at the North American Taiko Conference (NATC). Beginning with NATC 2003 in Sacramento, CA, Taiko Ten continues to be a pillar of the NATC schedule with new themes and interpretations each year.
The Taiko Community Alliance is celebrating the 50th anniversary of taiko in North America across the 2018-2019 year and is pleased to present the theme of COLLABORATION for the latest installment of Taiko Ten. If your taiko group has an interesting collaboration to share with the NATC audience, please consider submitting an application to perform in Taiko Ten! Collaboration examples include joint performances with other taiko groups, instruments other than taiko, other art forms such as dance, spoken word, etc. The possibilities are endless!
Taiko Ten
Friday, August 9th, 7:00 PM
Smith Ballroom, Portland State University
PERFORMER LINEUP
Ballico Taiko - Ballico, CA
Ballico Taiko, a community group based in Ballico School, a public charter school in rural central California, is celebrating our 10th anniversary.
Our community has a diverse and rich history beginning with Yokut tribes who foraged seeds and acorns to Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Latino, Indian, and Hmong immigrant farmers and farm workers who settled and cultivated the land.
Coritani with ManMan Mui - United Kingdom
Coritani is a trio comprised of the leaders and teachers of Humber Taiko: Emma Middleton, Lisa Oliver and Amy Naylor. Each member draws inspiration from a very different background: Lisa, a trained percussionist at the Royal College of Music, London; Emma, an award-winning theater director and trained puppeteer; and Amy, a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. This gives them a unique dynamic when working together to compose taiko pieces through different methods while incorporating song, movement and other instrumentation. Appearing across Europe at various festivals, shows and conferences since forming in 2015, this will be Coritani's North American debut.
ManMan Mui is an LA-based artist, instructor at the Los Angeles Taiko Institute (LATI), and founder and program leader of Taiko Together. In 2018 ManMan taught and performed with members of Coritani at the Humber Taiko festival, now in its third year. The gathering showcases hundreds of local taiko players and a variety of international guests, and takes place in the Humber region of North East England. As such, it is a testament to the power of taiko as a tool to empower youth and their families. The seeds for the collaboration between Coritani and Manman were planted at the Humber Taiko festival and have developed over the ensuing year.
Founded in 1988, the group is comprised of women artists from throughout North America who are principal performers, leaders, or teachers within various regional groups. Our goals include being able to challenge each other as artists, and to train for and play an expanded repertoire of pieces outside of the bounds of our own groups' typical performances.
The group tours occasionally and plays annually at the Powell Street Festival in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Kawa Taiko formed in Ontario, Oregon in February 2000, inspired by a Portland Taiko performance. The group is primarily self- taught, and benefits from taiko masters from Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles and Pocatello who have generously shared their expertise with Kawa Taiko when they have visited the area. Members have also attended conferences in Seattle, Vancouver BC, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Las Vegas for motivation, inspiration and to advance their taiko skills.
Kawa Taiko, literally "river drum" in Japanese, is a project of the Snake River Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League, and operates as a non-profit club. The group likes to have fun and at the same time hopes to educate and entertain the public with an art form from Japan. The group's founders were mothers who wanted to share this Japanese culture with their children; the current group is composed of teenagers and adults who are very dedicated to preserving this craft.
Kawa Taiko has performed at public, private, civic and commercial events over the years. Some notable venues that they have appeared at are: America’s Global Village Festival, Idaho Botanical Gardens, Idaho Japan Day, Boise Depot, Ontario Veterans Day Parade, Malheur County Fair, Hyde Park Street Fair, Indian Creek Festival, Ontario Obon Nite, Boise State University, College of Idaho, Baker City, La Grande. They have played at festivals, conventions, dinners, schools, and nursing homes.
Kita no Taiko was formed in Edmonton, Alberta in 1986, making us one of the oldest groups in Canada. Over our long history we have enjoyed many performances in exciting places and with memorable collaborations and experiences. Today, we look forward to exploring how taiko can be a tool of creativity in the arts, and a vessel of sharing and positive change in community.
Formed from the Miyake Kai groups from around the world, Global Miyake Kai is a group of passionate students that specialize in the jimoto style of Miyake Taiko. After Akio Tsumura taught Miyake Taiko to Kodo, who then went on to create their own style, he and his sons refined and popularized the jimoto style from the festival into a suitable stage performance. The Miyake Kai of the world were founded with the simple goal of practicing Miyake Taiko together and promoting the style in all corners of the world, and are officially recognized by Miyake Jima Geino Doshi Kai in Japan.
Seattle Kokon Taiko (SKT), Washington’s first performing taiko ensemble, is based in the local Japanese American community and has performed at schools, arts festivals, street fairs, community programs, corporate events and in concert throughout Washington and Oregon. SKT traces its roots to the Seattle Taiko Group, which formed in April 1980 following a dynamic performance by Ondekoza at the Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival. In SKT, we try to combine the ancient with the modern; our repertoire is a mix of traditional pieces and contemporary compositions. Through taiko, we hope to contribute to the development of a uniquely Japanese American art form – Japanese in origin, American in expression – that weaves threads of continuity between generations and builds bridges of understanding among people of all nationalities and walks of life.
To Educate and Entertain. Takohachi was founded in 2007 as a non-profit organization to preserve traditional Japanese music and dance. Takohachi seeks to educate and entertain as we perform throughout the Portland area at schools, festivals and cultural events.
Takohachi practices onkochishin (温故知新), which means “developing new ideas based on study of the past”. We learn traditional Japanese music and dance directly from Japan. Through Skype lessons from teachers in Japan, we incorporate traditional folk songs and dances in our repertoire.
Learning traditional Japanese music from authentic musicians in Japan has inspired Yumi, who has been composing songs in a new style. Her new compositions use unique instrumentations with taiko, shinobue, or
The Taiko Center of the Pacific Youth Group was established in 1994 by head instructor Kenny Endo to perpetuate the art of taiko and teach our youth about taiko, music, and Japanese culture. Affectionately referred to as the “YG,” they made their debut in Hawaii at the opening of stage II of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii. Since its inception, many youths have passed through the program, some continuing on to become leaders in the greater taiko world, forming taiko groups on college campuses, and taking an active role in perpetuating and teaching the art. The Taiko Center of the Pacific Youth Group has performed at the inaugural Youth Arts Festival in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the 2003 North American Taiko Conference in Sacramento, CA, on the Japanese Noto peninsula in 2008, as a featured guest at Zenshin Daiko’s Taiko Festival on Maui in 2013, and several times in Kenny Endo’s anniversary concerts at the Hawaii Theatre. The group is currently under the direction of director Brock Asato, a former YG member and current member of the Taiko Center of the Pacific Adult Performing Ensemble. The Youth Group currently ranges in age from 9-17 with various years of experience and training. The five YG members attending NATC range in age from 14-17 and have recently opened for On Ensemble’s first-ever concert on Oahu, HI in March 2019.
Wajima Koshu Daiko is a youth-based kumidaiko group based in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture. The group was formed in 2001 to promote community and to nurture the healthy personal development of children in the area. It is currently under the leadership of Yukio Nakahashi Sensei, a former member of the Wajima Kiriko Taiko Hozonkai.
Wajima Koshu Daiko creates and performs their contemporary taiko pieces based on the traditional Wajima Matsuri Bayashi rhythm and style of drumming. In 2018 they received the saiyushusho, or highest award, at the Inagi Wadaiko Contest held in Tokyo, Japan.