Stanford Taiko is a collegiate taiko group based at Stanford University. One of the first collegiate taiko groups to form in North America, it was founded in the winter of 1992 [1] by students Ann Ishimaru and Valerie Mih as a way to share taiko with the university community. [2] [3] As the founding organization of the Intercollegiate Taiko Invitational, [4] [ non-primary source needed ] Stanford Taiko has been instrumental in the development of collegiate taiko throughout the United States, as well as the larger North American taiko community through performing at the Taiko Jam of the North American Taiko Conference. Since 2000, the group has been active in the international scene through tours and exchange concerts in countries such as Japan, China, and Thailand. [5]
Stanford Taiko is a student-run group under the guidance of the Department of Music and faculty advisors Stephen M. Sano and Linda Uyechi. [6] [ non-primary source needed ] Stanford Taiko continues to spread understanding of the art form among the university community and build upon its knowledge through workshops with professional groups from Japan such as Tao. [7]
Ann Ishimaru first saw taiko in a Seattle festival and was inspired by the energy and intensity of the art form. During her freshman year at Stanford University, she enrolled in a course offered by Susan Hayase, a former San Jose Taiko member and Stanford alum. Part of the Stanford Workshop on Political and Social Issues (SWOPSI) program, the 1990 course, called Redress Now!: The JA Internment and Taiko, was a half-history, half-practicum course that brought Ishimaru in contact with Valerie Mih. Soon afterwards, Ishimaru and Mih submitted a grant to build a taiko drum, which they used to start Stanford Taiko. The group was officially formed as a student organization in January 1992. [4] [ non-primary source needed ]
Stanford Taiko's first official activity was a workshop with San Jose Taiko, then led by PJ Hirabayashi and Roy Hirabayashi. The group held additional workshops with Susan Hayase and One World Taiko. During the first year, the group spent weekends drum building in Ishimaru's house, which helped the members bond. The members practiced in the ballroom of the Asian American Activities Center at Stanford.
The group debuted in the spring of 1992 at White Plaza in Stanford with their first two pieces, renshu and matsuri, and their instruments: two chuu daiko, one odaiko, a tom-tom drum, and a cowbell. In the spring of 1995, Stanford Taiko founded in the first Intercollegiate Taiko Invitational, joining groups from UCLA and UC Irvine and working with professional taiko players such as Kenny Endo. Stanford Taiko member Susan Kanagawa (Yuen) organized the logistics for the Stanford-based event. The invitational exposed Stanford Taiko to the larger collegiate taiko community and was one of the turning points in the group's history. Today, Stanford Taiko is a cultural staple of Stanford, performing at such events as New Student Orientation, its annual spring concert, and the university's annual baccalaureate service. [4] [ non-primary source needed ]
Stanford Taiko's mission is to create a sustainable group to share taiko culture and tradition with the Stanford community. To that end, its two guiding principles are respect for the art form and consensus-based decision-making. The group is also committed to upholding the diversity of the student body. In terms of composition, Stanford Taiko membership has grown progressively more diverse. The original group consisted of 11 members, of which eight were Japanese-American and 10 were Asian American. Today, the group has 18 members, only two of which are Japanese-American. Stanford Taiko sustains its activities in various ways. It is sponsored by the Music Department, which waives fees for concert and rehearsal spaces, and The Stanford Fund. To supplement these sources, the group performs regularly at corporate events.
Stanford Taiko has experienced a range of transformations since its conception. The group was brought into mainstream Stanford culture with their performance at the university's 1993 baccalaureate service. Since then, Stanford Taiko has performed at every baccalaureate. The next turning point was the group's performance at FACES during the 1994 New Student Orientation. The performance attracted so much enthusiasm that the members decided to hold a full audition process to join the group, whereas previously it had accepted anyone interested in joining. A year later, Stanford Taiko founded the Intercollegiate Taiko Invitational in 1995, which exposed the group to the larger collegiate taiko community. [8] By meeting groups from UCLA and UC Irvine, the group broke out of its relative isolation. The group held its first indoor concert in 1996 at Dinkelspiel Auditorium. The group has since incorporated staging and lighting techniques in various concerts. In 1997, the group was incorporated into Stanford's Music Department, which allows student members to earn academic credit. The group also shifted from performing borrowed pieces to a completely original repertoire in 1998. The group initiated a regular touring schedule with their 2000 visit to Japan.
Stanford Taiko was founded by Ann Ishimaru and Valerie Mih. The group's charter members were Julie Kikuchi, Joe Kimura, David Li, Zack Semke, Barden Shimbo, Isa Stenzel (Byrnes), Hiroshi Tanaka, Linda Uyechi, Susan Kanagawa (Yuen).
Several Stanford Taiko alumni are key contributors to North American taiko: Shoji Kameda (On Ensemble, Hiroshima), Kris Bergstrom (On Ensemble, Taiko Project), Wisa Uemura (Executive Director, San Jose Taiko), Ann Ishimaru (Portland Taiko founder), Zack Semke (Portland Taiko founder).
Other alumni who continue to play include David Wells (Taiko Project), Hiroshi Tanaka (Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble (KETE), Jun Daiko), Emi Manuia (KETE), Rina Chang (San Jose Taiko), Dylan Solomon (San Jose Taiko), Alix Koyama (San Jose Taiko), Rylan Sekiguchi (San Jose Taiko), Susan Yuen (KETE, Jun Daiko), David Ishimaru (Jun Daiko), Linda Uyechi (San Jose Taiko, Jun Daiko), Barden Shimbo (Jun Daiko), Hari Rai Khelso (Jun Daiko), Kiyoshi Shikuma (Jun Daiko), Paul Bodnar (Taiko Mean Time), Christopher Fajardo (Jun Daiko).
Various groups and experiences cultivated the eventual character of Stanford Taiko. The primary influence on Stanford Taiko was San Jose Taiko. Susan Hayase, who inspired Ishimaru and Mih, was a former San Jose Taiko member. Stanford Taiko's first official activity was a workshop with San Jose Taiko, and they held multiple additional workshops throughout the years. Former San Jose Taiko members Nancy Ozaki and Gary Tsujimoto founded One World Taiko, and both taiko players brought their perspective to Stanford Taiko workshops. [4] [ non-primary source needed ] As a result, Stanford Taiko shares variations of the core principles of SJT, including ki (energy), kata (form), musical technique, and attitude.
Stanford Taiko was also initially influenced by the Osuwa style of taiko. Joe Kimura, a Stanford Taiko charter member, had previously been a founding member of St. Louis Osuwa Taiko. In its early years, Stanford Taiko borrowed lessons from a myriad of groups, and Kimura contributed his perspectives in the form of the Osuwa Daiko pieces he knew, including isamigoma and hiryu sandan gaeshi.
Kodo, a prominent Japanese professional taiko group, also played a role in shaping Stanford Taiko. Stanford Taiko members watched a Kodo rehearsal in Memorial Auditorium before their scheduled performance, thus gaining an opportunity to ask questions and learn from Kodo's techniques and organization.
Stanford Taiko's initial repertoire was largely borrowed from other groups. The first two pieces were Renshu, literally "practice" and Matsuri, both derived from musical elements of Oedo Sukeroku repertoire. These were followed by Isamigoma and Hiryu San Dan Gaeshi of Osuwa Daiko. Osuwa Daiko pieces featured prominently because of the influence of Joe Kimura, a founding member of St. Louis Osuwa Taiko. [9] Later, Stanford Taiko added Hachijo, from Ondekoza's arrangement of the traditional folk drumming. In 1993, Hiroshi Tanaka composed the first original Stanford Taiko piece, titled Hanabi. He followed up with Tatsumaki, the second original Stanford Taiko piece. Ann Ishimaru composed the third original piece, Amaterasu. All three pieces became Stanford Taiko's signature repertoire. In the spring of 1998, Stanford Taiko made the decision to perform only original pieces in their repertoire, and has done so ever since. [6] [ non-primary source needed ]
Various performances have been instrumental in shaping the direction of Stanford Taiko. Below is a list of notable concerts.
Stanford Taiko is an actively touring ensemble, having visited the following locations:
Taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term taiko refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called wadaiko and to the form of ensemble taiko drumming more specifically called kumi-daiko. The process of constructing taiko varies between manufacturers, and the preparation of both the drum body and skin can take several years depending on the method.
Kodō (鼓童) is a professional taiko drumming troupe. Based on Sado Island, Japan, they have had a role in popularizing taiko drumming, both in Japan and abroad. They regularly tour Japan, Europe, and the United States. In Japanese the word "Kodō" conveys two meanings: "heartbeat" the primal source of all rhythm and, read in a different way, the word can mean "children of the drum".
Daihachi Oguchi was a Japanese drummer best known for popularizing taiko.
Shoji Kameda is a fourth-generation Japanese American musician and composer, and leading player of North American taiko. He is a founder and member of On Ensemble, a contemporary taiko quartet, and a former member of the jazz fusion group Hiroshima.
Kenny Endo is an American musician and taiko master. He is the leader of several taiko ensembles and regularly tours, performing traditional and contemporary taiko music. Endo is also the first non-Japanese national to receive a natori in the field of hogaku hayashi, Japanese classical drumming. Today Endo composes his own music and plays taiko professionally as a solo artist, with his ensembles, and in collaboration with other artists.
Patti Jo "PJ" Hirabayashi is one of the pioneers of the North American Taiko movement. She is the founder of TaikoPeace, President of Kodo Arts Sphere America (KASA), and co-founder of Creatives for Compassionate Communities-a grassroots art-ivist group originating in San Jose, California. She is also the Artistic Director Emeritus and charter member of San Jose Taiko, the third taiko group to form in the United States. Her signature composition, "Ei Ja Nai Ka", is a celebration of immigrant life expressed in taiko drumming, dance, and voice that continues to be performed around the world.
Mark Miyoshi is a Japanese-American taiko maker. He is the owner and principal craftsman at Miyoshi Daiko, based in Mt. Shasta, California.
Kristofer Bergstrom is a leading American taiko player. He is a former member of Los Angeles-based taiko quartet, On Ensemble. In addition to taiko, Bergstrom plays the shamisen, koto, and turntable.
Roy Hirabayashi is a Japanese American composer, performer, teacher and activist known for his work as a leader in North American Taiko. He is co-founder of San Jose Taiko, the group's former Artistic and Executive Director, and was active in developing San Jose's Japantown and arts community.
Sawagi Taiko, founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, was the first all-female kumidaiko (taiko) group in Canada. It was founded by a group of women from Katari Taiko, the first Canadian kumidaiko group, and all of its members are exclusively Asian. As an offshoot of Katari Taiko, Sawagi considers San Jose Taiko an inspiration. Sawagi plays to empower Asian women from Asia, more specifically seeking to reject the "stereotypes of Asians as quiet and hardworking but basically mechanical and uncreative." Over the years, Sawagi has performed in support of AIDS organizations, First Nations groups, and Asian Canadian, women's and LGBTQ communities. Sawagi finds inspiration in the Chicago blues, occasionally including electric bass and vocal improvisation in their songs, as well as Japanese folk songs, and rap. Sawagi writes and arranges most of their compositions/dance's, some of which involve skits and vocals.
The Midwest Buddhist Temple Taiko group is a self-taught taiko group based in Chicago, Illinois, at the Midwest Buddhist Temple. The group started in 1977 based upon Buddhistic principals after the model of Kinnara Taiko in Los Angeles. The Midwest Buddhist Temple Taiko group performs for the temple, the Buddhist community, the Japanese American community, other communities, commercial gigs, business conferences, and different ethnic fairs. They do not consider themselves to be primarily a performing group, and they do service projects with the temple such as performing at the Midwest Buddhist Temple Ginza Holiday Festival.
Denver Taiko is the fourth taiko group founded in North America and the first taiko ensemble outside of California, United States. The group has a close partnership with the Tri-State Denver Buddhist Temple and performs throughout Colorado and neighboring states. In 2001, Denver Taiko received the Excellence in the Arts Award from Denver Mayor Wellington Webb. Today, Denver Taiko is an ensemble of third, fourth, and fifth generation Japanese Americans with a shared interest in honoring their Japanese American cultural heritage.
UCLA Kyodo Taiko is a collegiate taiko group specializing in taiko drumming. Founded in 1990, Kyodo is the first collegiate taiko group in the country. Kyodo is a Japanese term that means both "family" and "loud children." Many of Kyodo's members are not of Japanese descent.
Portland Taiko is a kumidaiko performance group based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Kumidaiko is the Japanese art form of ensemble drumming, also well known as "taiko", the Japanese word for drum. Portland Taiko was created in early 1994 by Ann Ishimaru and Zack Semke, both charter members of Stanford Taiko, Kyle Kajihiro, Valerie Otani, Kenji Spielman, and June Arima Schumann. Portland Taiko is an active organization to the present day and maintains professionalism in national performance tours, workshops, educational and community outreach and innovation in taiko playing. Portland Taiko is one of the only large taiko groups in the Pacific Northwest, with their closest counterpart being Seattle Kokon Taiko in Seattle, Washington.
Seattle Kokon Taiko is a North American taiko ensemble based in Seattle, Washington.
San Francisco Taiko Dojo, founded in 1968 by Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka, was the first taiko group in North America, and has been seen as the primary link between the Japanese and North American branches of the art form. Additionally, Tanaka's belief that learning to play taiko only requires a genuine interest in the art form, has greatly contributed to taiko's success and growth outside Japan.
Kinnara Taiko is a Japanese American drumming ensemble based out of Senshin Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles, US. They began playing taiko in 1969 when a few third-generation Japanese Americans gathered after an Obon festival and had an impromptu experimental session on an odaiko drum.
Seidō Kobayashi is the founder and current leader of the Tokyo-based taiko group, Oedo Sukeroku Taiko. Under Kobayashi's leadership, his taiko group, founded in 1959, was the first to tour professionally. He is considered a master performer of taiko. Kobayashi was well known for attempting to assert intellectual control of the group's performance style, which many believe has influenced taiko performance among many groups, particularly in North America.
San Jose Taiko, founded in 1973, joined San Francisco Taiko Dojo and Kinnara Taiko as only the third Kumi-daiko, or ensemble taiko group, in North America. Initially a youth program at the San Jose Betsuin, a member of the Buddhist Churches of America, the group has evolved into a leading arts group not only in the Japanese American community but also in Asian American arts while maintaining unwaivering allegiance to Japantown, San Jose.
Yuta Kato is a Japanese American teacher, performer, and leader in North American taiko. Among other accomplishments in the North American taiko community, Kato currently performs as a member of UnitOne in Torrance, California, founded UCLA collegiate taiko group, Yukai Daiko, and co-founded the Los Angeles Taiko Institute (LATI).