Odaiko New England

Takin’ it to the Streets

Rockin' out on Shin-en

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 […]

A Drum With a Past

I came home from Taiko Conference energized and wanting to practice all the time. Husband Matt and I both decided to follow along with 30 Days to Better Shime: Round 3, which would mean that we’d need appropriate equipment. We either needed to continue borrowing shime from the Odaiko New England drum closet, or get […]

30 Days to Better Shime: A Review

My Practice Setup

At the risk of sounding like an advertisement, I absolutely love and recommend Kristofer Bergstrom of On Ensemble’s program 30 Days to Better Shime. I first heard about the course while attending this year’s North American Taiko Conference in Los Angeles, California. Not being one to often […]

The Gig That Wasn’t

The Performance Tent

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, […]

World Wide Wednesdays in Chelmsford

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 […]

The Taiko March

While we were at Summer Taiko Institute, Tanya, Beth and I had the unique opportunity to join Kris Bergstrom of On Ensemble in a demonstration of the Taiko March, a piece he had composed and choreographed as part of the Taiko Games at North American Taiko Conference. He had had everything planned out, but […]

Food and Friends: Fuel for Kumi-daiko

Dinner with new friends: Mary, Lisa, Stacey, Mari, Kaoru, George, & May

There are two things a taiko player likes to do: banging on drums and going out to eat. At least these are two of my favorite things! Taiko Conference was not only about learning new techniques, songs, and drills. It was […]

Taiko Conference: First Impressions

Taiko players packed the room, and enjoyed dinner together at the opening reception on Thursday evening.

The first full day of the North American Taiko Conference (NATC), Friday the 7th, was even more of an eye-opener than I thought it might be. While it may be that not every North American taiko group […]

It’s over… …it’s about to begin

I’m sad to say that Summer Taiko Institute is already over. Tanya, Joy, and I had a wonderful time.

I think it is rare to see such impressive musicianship and excellent teaching skills in the same person, and even more amazing to find a group of four people who work so well together in both […]

Immersed in Taiko

I am learning my shime part of the song.

Days one and two of Summer Taiko Institute are over and Joy, Beth and I are pleasantly exhausted. We’ve spent two days absorbing techniques on timing, articulation, form and stance, all while learning a new song written by Shoji Kameda of On Ensemble. There […]