On Ensemble : Masato Baba, Kristofer Bergstrom, Shoji Kameda and Kelvin Underwood » north american taiko conference

Taiko Games for Taiko Conference – Poster!

kris — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:18:52 +0000

Here is a little advertisement I put together for the debut performance of the taiko games!

Taiko Conference 2009!

kris — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:04:49 +0000

On Ensemble will be teaching and performing at the 2009 Taiko Conference here in Los Angeles! The bi-annual Conference is one of the taiko community’s most important events and we’re extremely excited about it! On Ensemble is facilitating the Summer Taiko Institute immediately prior to Conference, where participants will receive and help complete a new composition for the community! Each of On Ensemble’s members will teach one or more workshops within the Conference itself. We’ll be performing at the two Taiko Jam concerts. And Kris will also be debuting his four, brand-new “taiko games” with the help of taiko players from around the country! It’ll be a busy, fun week!

Get tickets to Taiko Jam here.

Come see Kris’ demonstration, Friday August 7 at 12noon on the JACCC Plaza (244 S San Pedro St, 90012)!

Taiko 10

admin — Wed, 06 May 2009 19:45:16 +0000

Applications are currently being accepted for “Taiko 10″ a free community concert held in the Noguchi Plaza at the JACCC as part of the 2009 North American Taiko Conference. If you are a member of a taiko group planning on coming to this year’s conference “Taiko 10″ is a great opportunity to share your music with the greater North American taiko communtiy. Applications are online at the taiko conference website.

2009 Summer Taiko Institute

shoji — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 10:15:11 +0000

We’re sending out postcards to taiko groups all across the country for the 2009 Summer Taiko Institute soon! Keep an eye out for them!

The Summer Taiko Institute is a great opportunity to deepen your study of taiko with an intensive three day series of workshops right before the North American Taiko Conference. The North American taiko community continues to grow by leaps and bounds. During our tours we’re constantly meeting new taiko groups all across the country. Even just in Southern California it’s pretty impossible to keep track of all the new groups.

If you are a taiko player and have never attended a taiko conference I highly recommend it! It’s a really great opportunity to meet crazy taiko nuts from all around the world. *Yes you are weird but the good news is that you aren’t alone* If you’re a part of a collegiate taiko group there is also the Annual Collegiate Taiko Invitational which will be hosted by UC Irvine Jodaiko this year in May.

Survey: Taiko Conference Discussion Sessions

kris — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 23:49:10 +0000

What do you think are some of the key issues to be discussed at Taiko Conference this coming August?

Past topics include:

“What you should know but we don’t talk about”, a discussion of taiko etiquitte,

“You’re a taiko player?!”, what it means to play a Japanese drum when you’re not Japanese,

and near and dear to my heart,

“Why taiko music should be free, and how Copyleft can help us”, about why I believe all music should be freely shared.

What do you think? What are key questions for us taiko players to discuss? Please share your thoughts below!

Thank you everyone again for some great feedback on our last Taiko Conference Survey regarding workshops for this year!

Survey: Taiko Conference Workshops

kris — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:50:55 +0000

This August the North American Taiko Conference returns to Los Angeles! Every two years the taiko community rallies together to create the Taiko Conference, an amazing weekend of taiko workshops and performances, with players, teachers, and taiko enthusiasts from around the world. The JACCC will be hosting the Conference again, and a number of us are volunteering to help with the planning and preparations.

One of the first challenges is to determine what workshops and taiko topics we’d like facilitators to offer during the Conference. Toward this end, we are asking past participants to give us feedback.

In the comments below, let us know! Thank you for your input!

In past Taiko Conferences, what workshops were particularly good?