Date Composed:2012Composer:Aki TakahashiArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:November 10, 2012 - Enwave Theatre In Japan, the sword is considered sacred and inviolable. A sword blade must not be broken, dull or bent. The skill of Japanese swordsmith is world renowned. They developed a special process, combining hard iron around softer...
Date Composed:2012Composer:Aki TakahashiArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:November 10, 2012 - Enwave Theatre The horse was once a familiar and essential sight in many villages in Japan, used both for farming and as a packhorse. Mago was a person who led horses and carried passengers or baggage. They walked all day...
Date Composed:2009Composer:Aki TakahashiArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:November 27, 2009 - Al Green Theatre, Toronto From simple daily labor, songs were born. These days music has been reduced to a sound we hear passively during our spare time, but it used to be songs we created for ourselves. Thousands...
Date Composed:2003Composer:Paolo PietropaoloArrangement:Paolo PietropaoloPremiere Performance:November 14, 2003 - Brigantine Room Harbourfront Centre Kigi no Kaiwa is a playful musical conversation featuring the most basic part of the taiko ensemble – the miya taiko; drums made out of a single tree trunk. Each tree (or taiko) has...
Date Composed:2009Composer:Kiyoshi Nagata and Scott KusanoArrangement:Kiyoshi Nagata and Scott KusanoPremiere Performance:November 27, 2009 - Al Green Theatre, Toronto In the Shinto faith, a deity or kami exists within all aspects of nature. It is also believed that kami resides within the taiko and that it is...
Date Composed:2008Composer:Aki Takahashi, Scott Kusano and Kiyoshi NagataArrangement:Aki Takahashi, Scott Kusano and Kiyoshi NagataPremiere Performance:October 31, 2008 - TOHU MontrealRecording Title:Tsuzure CD / 10th Anniversary Concert DVD The contrasting yet complimentary sounds of the bamboo (TAKÉ) shakuhachi, the silk-string (ITO) shamisen and the skin (KAWA) of...
Date Composed:2013Composer:Heidi ChanPremiere Performance:November 22, 2013 This piece depicts four mountain-climbers as they compete to climb up the rocky face of a large mountain. As each climber takes a step, pieces of rock fall around them, and their journey becomes more treacherous and intense. Although each...
Date Composed:2004Composer:Heidi ChanArrangement:Heidi ChanPremiere Performance:October 16, 2004 - Hart House TheatreRecording Title:Kiro CD This piece incorporates various structural principles of the Karnatic (South Indian) rhythmic system into the taiko idiom. The solos are played over a fixed 5-beat cycle (Khanda tala). ...
Date Composed:2006Composer:Heidi ChanArrangement:Heidi ChanPremiere Performance:October 13, 2007 - Al Green Theatre This song imagines a procession of the gods of nature as they stroll across the sky. The slow, steady rhythms represent the wide, sweeping steps of the gods as they assemble for a special occasion....
Date Composed:2003Composer:Heidi ChanArrangement:Heidi ChanPremiere Performance:Friday, November 13, 2003 - Brigantine Room, Harbourfont CentreRecording Title:Kiro CD This piece is based on the idea of using and combining simple rhythms to create driving grooves. It is intended to convey the movements of small animals and insects in a...