With initial support from a TCA Mini-Grant in 2018, Karen Young (The Genki Spark, Boston) has launched a new Taiko and Community website and Artist in Residence program with Yidan Zeng, Marley Kirton, and Lina Lalwani (formerly with Gendo Taiko, Providence). Taiko and Community is an initiative
TCA is proud to introduce five new members to the Board of Directors in Fall 2019. Please join us in welcoming Ben Pachter (starting September 2019), Carley Okamura, Danny Hayman, Kelly Kuwabara, and Paul Sakamoto to the board. They collectively bring over 60 years of taiko, non-profit administration, and community organizing experience from their diverse
This is the third in a series of posts by Heidi Varian, Project Coordinator for Taiko Voices, the 50th Anniversary Song Commission sponsored by TCA. MARCH: The Spirit The third gathering was only a few weeks after the Pioneer Jam and the energy was humming. Did I mention there was a jam? Of course not. Because, if there...
This is a report submitted by Marit Hanson and Christopher Stephan on behalf of Harisen Daiko, host of a Minnesota taiko gathering. Harisen Daikoe was the recipient of a 2019 TCA Mini-Grant. On Tuesday, March 19, five taiko groups filled the Gremlin Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota, preparing to perform together for the first time....
TCA is delighted to be a recipient of a New Generation Nikkei Fund (NGNF) grant and to have the Taiko Voices project recognized as an important contribution to the Japanese American community. For more information about NGNF visit them at ngnf.org.
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Acting Chairman Mary Anne Carter has approved more than $27 million in grants as part of the Arts Endowment’s first major funding announcement for fiscal year 2019. Included in this announcement is an Art Works grant of $30,000 to TCA to support the North American Taiko Conference, August 9-11, 2019...
In December, TCA Board Members Akemi Imai and Derek Oye traveled to Sacramento to attend the California Arts Council (CAC) Partner & Networks Grantee Meeting. In a positive sign for the arts in California, it was the first time in 16 years that CAC was able to organize a meeting for this group of grantees. So for many, it was a new...
With an on-going commitment to empower people to pursue and advance taiko, TCA rolled out its most generous mini-grant program to date. Over $10,000 is being awarded to six projects that reflect the inspiring diversity of geography, group philosophy, and membership of North American taiko. From honoring group history in Eugene and New York City, to making taiko...
This is a report submitted by Marc Steuben of Simpson Taiko. Simpson Taiko, through Simpson United Methodist Church, was a recipient of a 2018 TCA Mini-Grant. A few years ago, in an effort to play on more drums and fewer buckets, Marc, from newly formed Simpson Taiko, in Arvada, Colorado, started experimenting with ways to make good-sounding drums more...
This year Senryu Taiko hosted the 24th annual Intercollegiate Taiko Invitational, held on Memorial Weekend, May 26 and 27, 2018 at the University of California, Riverside. Initiated in 1995, The Intercollegiate Taiko Invitational (ITI) is an annual two-day gathering of collegiate players. This year’s participants included groups from California, Oregon, and