I cannot believe the amazing taiko opportunities that 2009 has brought me. I was lucky enough to have played in at least 33 shows. Each one taught me something about taiko, performance or myself. I decided to write down a thought about each one as way to summarize my year.
My snow driving [...]

“We’re gathering our extended taiko family for the holidays,” I wrote on our website to promote ONE’s 2nd annual Winter Extravaganza.   It was an ironic statement for me, since my own family would not be coming.
And so it was that I left my taiko widower and orphans at home to take part in our 2009 [...]

Saturday night we performed for Zenshinkan Dojo, an Aikido Dojo in Worcester, to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Close to 100 members were gathered to recognize two decades of hard work. People got up and told passionate stories of commitment, personal transformation, friendships, and people working tirelessly on behalf of the group.  And they talked about [...]

With festival pieces like “Matsuri” and “Shin-en” in our repertoire, it was only natural that Odaiko New England would be invited to perform for the Allston Village Street Fair. Dubbed an “urban Mardi Gras”, this event featured many different bands and performers, and we were thrilled to be adding taiko to the musical stew for [...]

The expected email from Juni arrived shortly after noon. The gig was on! The forecast had been unsettled, with rain predicted for our evening outdoor performance in Leominster, MA. I had been checking regional satellite images all morning, and I wasn’t seeing a problem. Time to wrap up my work, print [...]

On July 29 ONE introduced its brand of high-energy, engaging and entertaining taiko to Chelmsford, MA for one of the town’s “World Wide Wednesdays” concerts.
It was a fun gig, rather like a combination of a Young Audiences show and concert. Mark started things off with some lively katsugi okedo playing, then the rest of us bounded into [...]

Author’s note: I wrote the following shortly after our 15th anniversary concert (reVISION on May 30 and 31), but found myself feeling shy about sharing this with the world, so I didn’t publish it right away.
Just over a week has passed since ONE’s 15th anniversary concert, reVISION. Everyday life is flowing by so fast [...]

Great news! Odaiko New England has been selected to perform at this year’s Taiko 10!!! The Taiko 10 is a free outdoor community concert held in association with the North American Taiko Conference, a biennial gathering of taiko enthusiasts from all over the world, which is taking place in Los Angeles on August 7-9 this [...]

There’s a yellow suitcase marked ‘YA’ in the equipment closet.  During our practices, we regularly borrow equipment from the suitcase.  But more often, the yellow suitcase tags along as we help load equipment into and out of Juni’s car before and after practices.
‘YA’ stands for ‘Young Audiences of Massachusetts’.   It also represents a major part of Odaiko New [...]

So, here we are, coming out of our anniversary concert, and there isn’t much time to rest.
It’s my first chance to organize a gig.
I rashly volunteered to organize a performance for the Waltham Riverfest.  Megan Gleeson of the Waltham Cultural Council approached me about this performance some time ago, and since Waltham is my home [...]