Soh Daiko Ignites the Stage at the East Coast Taiko Conference

On February 2nd, Soh Daiko members traveled to Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island to participate in the annual East Coast Taiko Conference. Started only a few years ago by collegiate taiko groups, the conference was a remarkable success with a variety of taiko related workshops, lectures and panel discussions over the weekend, as well as the ECTC Concert where Soh Daiko opened the show!

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Alan’s Keynote speech

The weekend kicked off with a keynote speech by our very own Mr. Alan Okada, one of the founding (and still active) members of Soh Daiko. He gave a brief history of taiko’s emergence in America, and using a rope as a timeline, illustrated for the young audience that the ensemble drumming they have come to know as ‘taiko’ was a relatively new innovation compared to the drumming style of historical Japan and Asia. He also emphasized the importance of knowing the origins of pieces when playing and embellishing compositions and styles.

Soh Daiko member with Tsumura-san

Soh Daiko members then joined various workshop sessions, including a special session on ‘miyake’ led by a member of the Miyake Taiko group in Japan, Mr. Kazuhiro Tsumura. Other workshop leaders (some who would also perform in the evening’s concert) were PJ and Roy Hirabayashi, Kenny Endo, Isaku Kageyama, Patrick Graham, Stuart Paton, and Mark Rooney, to name a few.

At 8pm, the ECTC Concert opened with a lively performance of Hachidan, a piece Soh Daiko inherited from Sukeroko Daiko and taught to us by Mr. Seiichi Tanaka, Sukeroko Daiko’s representative in North America. With a dramatic beginning and four exciting solos, Soh Daiko received a huge applause from the enthusiastic taiko loving audience. Our thanks go out to Ingrid Tu and Sam Huang for their great effort to organize a successful East Coast Taiko Conference!