Composer:Unkown - traditionalArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:November 22, 2013 - EnwaveTheatre This shamisen tune was originally a traditional folk song from Akita. It was appropriated by shamisen players for its complex nature which readily lent itself to an improvisational style with its intoxicating and driving rhythms. It has...
Composer:Unknown - traditionalArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:October 10, 2014 - Fleck Dance Theatre In winter, the northern part of Japan lies buried beneath a heavy, cold white blanket. Winters there have always been harsh, but were especially so in the period before the rise of modern transportation and...
The Chichibu-Yatai-bayashi is instrumental music mainly played with taiko drums on dashi floats during the Chichibu-matsuri festival, a major annual festival held December 2-3 in Chichibu, Saitama. Yatai-bayashi is played inside the floats and cannot be seen from outside but plays an important role in...
Composer:Tatara TokiArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:October 13, 2006 - Al Green Theatre The fox is the god of the rice fields, who returns to the mountains to serve the gods in autumn. The fox god, known as a hunter of rodents, has long been an object of veneration...
Composer:Unknown - TraditionalArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:November 18, 2011 - Fleck Dance Theatre Mt. Iwaki is a symbol of Tsugaru, a city and region in northern Japan.There are many songs about this majestic mountain, a symmetrical volcano which rises from the plains at the base of the Tsugaru...
Composer:Daihachi OguchiArrangement:Daihachi OguchiPremiere Performance:This piece was first performed in the early years of the group, although the exact date of the premiere performance has been forgotten. Kiyoshi Nagata learned the song from Daihachi Oguchi and Tomomatsu Misawa, when he was a member of Toronto Suwa Daiko....
Composer:Unknown - TraditionalArrangement:Aki TakahashiPremiere Performance:April 18, 2007 - Arts Centre, Lake Superior State University, MI Soran Bushi originates from Japan’s northernmost island, Hokkaido. It is a fisherman’s song evoking the process of catching herring – setting the boat out to sea, casting and retrieving the nets,...
Composer:Unknown - TraditionalArrangement:Toki Tatara (flute) and Aki Takahashi (taiko) - Choreographed by Keiko KitanoPremiere Performance:December 1, 2007 - Ryerson Theatre Because Japan was for many years largely an agrarian society, many of its festivals are intimately tied to the production and harvesting of rice. SANABURI is...
Date Composed:c. 1988Composer:Yoshikazu FujimotoArrangement:Kiyoshi NagataPremiere Performance:December 6, 1997 - Toronto Buddhist Church, CD Release ConcertRecording Title:Stone Path CD Ogi is a small port town located on the southern tip of Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture. The local villagers play this piece throughout Ogi Village every August...
Composer:Unknown - Traditional, adapted for the stage by KodoArrangement:Kiyoshi NagataPremiere Performance:This piece was first performed in the early years of the group, although the exact date of the premiere performance has been forgotten.Recording Title:10th Anniversary Concert DVD This drumming style, where the players swing back and...