Japanese taiko drumming takes center stage Jan. 11

Young and old are invited to an exciting evening of Japanese taiko drumming with Odaiko New England at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11, at Kennett High School in Redstone. Brought together by the love of taiko, and the power of kumi taiko (ensemble drumming), the members of Odaiko New England use their music to speak across the boundaries of race, class, culture and religion. 

Tickets for the performance are $5 for students, $10 for adults, and $20 for families, and are available in advance from the KHS Performing Arts Department (356-4360) or from students in the Stage Band or Select Choir. All proceeds will benefit the Kennett High School Music Program.

Odaiko New England (ONE) was founded in 1994 by Elaine Fong and a small group of Boston-area musicians. Since its formation, ONE has reached over 150,000 people with the power oftaiko, including showcase performances at the North American Taiko Jam in Los Angeles, the Kennedy Center's Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, First Night Boston Millennium celebration, as well as concerts and festivals at universities and community organizations throughout the Northeast. In December ONE presented a full-length concert highlighting its newest compositions and commissions and featuring a guest appearance by internationally-renowned Japanese flute master-performer Marco Lienhard. In addition to performances, Odaiko New England is committed to teaching, offering weekly adult and children's taiko classes, and community and corporate workshops.
 
Taiko is a striking example of the rich, exciting and multi-faceted contributions the Asian community brings to the NorthEast. ONE's members come from ethnically and culturally diverse backgrounds that reflect the cultural diversity of New England. The powerful sound of the taiko, combined with dynamic movement, creates an exuberant and energetic performance that is sure to broaden audiences' perspectives of Asian American art and culture.ONE continues the exciting tradition that is the hallmark of American taiko groups, combining traditional Japanese rhythms with other musical elements drawn from jazz, rock, Latin and African traditions. In addition, ONE incorporates other performance disciplines such as dance and theater as it creates its own unique and distinct style.

"In the early days," says founder Elaine Fong, "we drummed on old, taped-up tires and borrowed taiko. With Japanese taiko drums being prohibitively expensive ($5,000 for a medium-sized taiko), we followed in the footsteps of fellow North American taiko groups, and made our own taiko from California oak wine barrels. To this day, ONE still makes some of its taiko."
 
Performers at Kennett include Fong, Mark Rooney, and Juni Kobayashi. Fong is the founder and artistic director, with over twenty years of taiko performance and teaching experience. In addition to taiko,Fong is a dancer,choreographer, and composer, and a certified TaKeTiNa instructor. An honorary member of Soh Daiko of New York, she has received instruction from Grandmaster Seiichi Tanaka, artistic director of San Francisco Taiko Dojo; from renowned taiko soloist Kenny Endo, artistic director of the Taiko Center of the Pacific; Tiffany Tamaribuchi, Artistic Director of the Sacramento Taiko Dan; Marco Lienhard, Artistic Director of Taikoza; and the world famous Kodo drummers of Japan.In 1993,Fong was the taiko instructor and performer for Camouflage Makers, a piece commissioned by Dance Umbrella about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Fong received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University, and a Masters in Public and Private Management from the Yale School of Organization and Management. 

Mark H. Rooney was born and raised in Southeastern Massachusetts (the only Japanese-Scottish boy in his school!), and received a degree in film production from Boston University. Mark has written, produced, and directed several short films. In 1998, he joined ONE and has since then studied with some of the most remarkable taiko performers of our time, including Yoshikazu Fujimoto, Yoko Fujimoto, Chieko Kojima and Eiichi Saito (Kodo). Mark spent three years in Japan teaching English in the small mountain village of Ryujin-mura. While there, he practiced and performed with a variety of taiko groups: Ryujin Daiko (Wakayama), Shippu Uchi Daiko (Wakayama), Kiyohime Daiko (Wakayama), Taiko Shudan Ushio (Osaka), Wakahayakai (Ibaraki) and Tomoko Igarashi's Miyabi Arashi (Tokyo). Mark has written several taiko pieces: Yamabiko (Mountain Echos), which premiered at First Night Boston in 1998; Kashmir, based on traditional taiko rhythms and rhythms from the similarly named Led Zeppelin song; Senryu (a Japanese humorous poem), based on 5-count and 7-count rhythms; Buddha, a prayerful piece for three odaiko players; Hamon (Ripples), created for his beloved second home in Ryujin-mura; and Shin-en, a lively, celebratory song which connects many taiko players in Japan and the States through rhythm.

A member of Odaiko New England since June 2001, Juni Kobayashi hails from Tenafly, New Jersey. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from University of Illinois in percussion performance. By day, Juni loves to "dink dink, boink boink" on the synthesizer, developing sounds for Young Chang/Kurzweil synthesizers and digital pianos.

The evening performance is the first in a series of programsby artists who are also performing for Kennett's 9th grade World Cultures classes, through a grant from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. The concerts are presented by the Kennett High School Performing Arts Department in partnership with the Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire's Classroom & Community Concerts. For additional information, or to purchase tickets in advance, call Therese Davison at 356-4360 or the AANNH at 323-7302.