The acclaimed Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble's “East Meets West” tour will come to campus Monday, Nov. 7, with a 7 p.m. performance in the Nott Memorial. The event is free and open to the public. Endo, one of the foremost taiko (Japanese drum) artists today, also will lead a workshop with students on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Celebrating 30 years of taiko drumming, Endo combines members of his Tokyo, Honolulu and continental U.S. ensembles for this tour, which features Japanese and Western instruments in traditional and world rhythms and modern compositions. Instruments include large taiko drums, tsuzumi (Japanese hour-glass hand drum), bamboo flutes, 17-string bass koto, vibraphones, congas and Latin, Japanese and world percussion. For more, visit www.kennyendo.com/eastwest2005.htm.
The tour is presented by TRADEX, a National Organization for Traditional Artists Exchange, with support from the Japan Foundation through the Performing Arts JAPAN program, the Freeman Foundation and Inspiration Interiors.
A performer, composer, and leading spirit in contemporary taiko, Endo trained in western drums and percussion from an early age before embarking on a journey of taiko training and performing that has taken him around the world. Endo holds the distinction of being the first non-Japanese national to be designated with a natori (stage name) in classical Japanese drumming. He is also a master of taiko folk forms, an educator with a master's degree in Music, as well as an innovator in contemporary percussion collaborations.
The “East Meets West” ensemble includes from the East: Kyosuke Suzuki, one of Japan's leading performers of festival music and Edo Sato Kagura (Shinto music), and also considered one of the top lion dancers of the Tokyo style (Hawaii concerts only); Yoshinori Nomi, one of the original Tokyo Cuban Boys, famous for introducing Latin music to Japan; virtuosic vibraphones player, Hitoshi Hamada, considered one of the best in Japan (continental US tour and select Hawaii performances).
These musicians from Japan, combined with one of the most sought-after studio musicians in Los Angeles, Masakazu Yoshizawa on shakuhachi (bamboo flute), woodwinds and percussion; 17-string bass koto (Japanese zither) extraordinaire Shoko Hikage; and Endo's dynamic taiko drummers from his Honolulu and continental US-based ensembles including Eien Hunter (taiko, vibraphones and percussion), Kirstin Pauka (taiko and percussion), and Joy Tanaka (taiko and percussion), form a diverse and high-caliber ensemble from East and West. The Honolulu concert will additionally feature all members of the Honolulu Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble with special guest, world-class drummer and percussionist, Noel Okimoto.
The Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble “East Meets West” performance tour celebrates Endo's 30 years of devotion to honing and developing his art, but also aims to further the appreciation of taiko at its finest. By assembling high-caliber artists from Japan and the U.S. who are versed in the traditional and are also innovators of creative collaborative work, new heights can be attained. Endo's music and stunning performances appeal to all people regardless of culture, age, or gender. Accompanying many of the concerts are educational opportunities for master classes in taiko, bamboo flutes, vibraphones, drumset, Japanese and world percussion, as well as lecture-demonstrations titled “The Art of Taiko.”