Taiko Workshops by world renown
Taiko player Kenny Endo
Hosted by BK Taiko • 1st weekend in May 2012
For more information or to pre-register please contact BK Taiko: www.bktaiko.com, Anita Lee Gallegos, at 505-294-6993 or email . BK Taiko is located at 9911 Southern SE Unit F. We are less than 2 blocks west of Eubank.
Below are the initial topics and schedule information.
Pre-registration deadline is April 25th. (Late registration fee after April 25th)
Workshop Topics
Basics workshop open to all, no experience necessary.
Basics - Beginning Taiko for Kids
[11 yrs & under] (1 hours - $30) Friday May 4th 5:30-6:30pm
Workshop covers philosophy, kata, technique, movement, and vocalization. Vocalization includes kuchi shoka & kiai. Questions are welcome. While this workshop is geared for kids with little (1 yr or less) or NO taiko experience, all kids are welcome to attend as we can all use a review and practice on basics. (This is the only kids workshop available)
Basics - Beginning Taiko for Adults
[12 yrs & older] (3 hours - $90) Saturday May 5th 9-12 pm
This workshop covers philosophy, kata, technique, movement, and vocalization. Vocalization includes kuchi shoka and kiai. Questions are welcome. While this workshop is geared for people with little (1 yr or less) or NO taiko experience, all are welcome to attend as we can all use a review and practice on basics
Lunch available on Saturday for $5
YOU MUST TAKE THE TAIKO BASICS WORKSHOP IN ORDER TO TAKE OTHER WORKSHOPS UNLESS YOU HAVE ALREADY TAKEN A KENNY ENDO BASICS WORKSHOP IN THE LAST 4 YEARS. (Exception Fue workshop)
Improving Ji Patterns
(2 hours - $60): Saturday May 5th 12:45-2:45pm
Creativity & Composition
(2 hours - $60): Saturday May 5th 3 -5pm (Must have 2 years continuous taiko experience)
Odaiko Workshop
(2 hours - $60 hours) This workshop covers basic Odaiko skills. (Must have over 3 years continuous taiko experience)
Fue
(1 hour - $35): This workshop covers Beginning Fue technique. Must bring your own Fue.
Taiko Master Class
(1 hour - $200): This is a private hour group technique review/critique by Kenny Endo
Note: Please bring your drums. We need at least 1 drum for 2 players.
Discounts available for taking multiple workshops or bringing your own drum.
About Kenny Endo
KENNY ENDO is one of the leading artists in contemporary percussion and rhythm. He is the vanguard of the taiko genre, continuing to pave new paths in this Japanese style drumming even after thirty-five years as a career taiko player. A performer, composer, and teacher of taiko with numerous awards and accolades, Kenny Endo is a consummate artist, blending Japanese taiko with rhythms influenced from around the world into original melodies and improvisation.
Originally trained as a jazz musician in the Asian American cultural renaissance of 1970s California, Endo began his taiko career first with L.A.’s groundbreaking Kinnara Taiko, and then with the renowned San Francisco Taiko Dojo, the first kumi daiko group outside of Japan. In 1980, he embarked on a decade-long odyssey in his ancestral Japan, studying and performing with the masters of ancient classical drumming, traditional Tokyo festival music, and ensemble drumming. Endo has the honor of being the first non-Japanese national to have received a natori (stage name and masters degree) in hogaku hayashi (classical drumming). In the hogaku world, Endo is known as Mochizuki Tajiro.
In the greater musical world, “Kenny Endo” has become synonymous with “taiko.” He is arguably one of the most versatile musicians in the genre, crossing easily between the classical Japanese style and his own neo-classical, globally-inspired variety. Among his many distinctions are an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, an artist residency at the Lincoln Center Institute in New York, his own “Kenny Endo Day” proclaimed by the Mayor of Honolulu, and certificates of honor from the House and Senate of the State of Hawaii and Honolulu City Council.
Endo has recorded five CDs of original taiko compositions, and was a featured artist on the PBS special “Spirit of Taiko.” He has performed for musicians Michael Jackson and Prince as well as Princess Diana and Prince Charles. He opened for The Who, performed a duet with singer Bobby McFerrin, and is featured on the soundtracks for Kayo Hatta’s film “Picture Bride” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now.” He also recorded in motion capture suit for James Cameron’s “Avatar.” Endo’s taiko skills have taken him to the Microsoft Global Meeting in Atlanta, the Smithsonian, the National Museum of American History, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Theatre de Champs-Elysee in Paris, the Kabukiza and National Theater in Japan. He has performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Honolulu Symphony, and the Tokyo Symphony, traveling across Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, the former Soviet Union, and the Americas in his effort to share taiko with the world.