Odaiko New England

’twas the night before Taiko Institute

Beth, Tanya and me playing in the trees near the La Brea Tar Pits

It’s finally August, and that means Taiko Conference and Summer Taiko Institute!

Tanya, Beth and I have never been to Taiko Conference before, and we decided to jump in with both feet and do it all! Beth and I […]

More Than Taiko

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 […]

Taiko 10 Here We Come!!!

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 […]

Bringing Taiko to Young Audiences

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 […]

Reimei at Dawn

Two weekends ago, I played taiko with my friends on a shady plaza overlooking the Charles River, followed by a free lunch. Yes, the Waltham Riverfest was a cushy gig, especially compared to the other gig Odaiko New England was doing at the same time. I’m sure the Boston Pride Parade was a blast, but […]

Organizing a Gig… for the first time!

Loaded up and Ready to Go

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 […]

Poems celebrating ONE’s 15th Anniversary

For Juni:

She will paint you a musical story, Of troops in all of their glory. But tales of daring Are not all she’s sharing. She’ll throw in some goofiness, too.

On Yui, she’s totally groovin’ She’s got the whole audience movin’. With a flip of a stick, And her grin that’s so quick, She […]

reVISION Imminent

Our 15th Anniversary Concert, reVISION, is one week from today, yet all the many hours of rehearsal together haven’t quelled my joy for my taiko buddies! It had been 39 hours since we last saw each other, so we got together for Star Trek and Chili’s.

See, we DO watch other things besides the many […]

Happy Happi!

Odaiko New England showing off our new happi coats

The Harvard Lampoon celebration was our first chance to get a group shot in our new noshi ribbon happi coats. We’re a pretty decent looking group, if I do say so myself.

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Odaiko New England Helps Celebrate the Harvard Lampoon Castle’s 100th Birthday

As Mark said, “The Cool Factor was definitely on the high side!” How often do you get to drum in the middle of Harvard Square amidst a laser light show with fog machines and a confetti storm – all while staring down a 2-3 story float shaped like a Harvard Prof??? That’s […]