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Japanese taiko drumming performance slated

Oct. 20, 2010

KALAMAZOO--One of the best-known Japanese-style drummers will be at Western Michigan University next month to perform as well a give a lecture and demonstration.

Photo of Kenny Endo taiko drumming ensemble.Kenny Endo and the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble will perform at 8:15 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3, in the Dalton Center Recital Hall. Tickets cost $5. Endo also will present a lecture and demonstration, which is free and open to the public, from 4 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, on campus in Room R1004 of the Richmond Center for Visual Arts.

Endo is performer, composer and teacher of taiko--Japanese-style drumming. A leading force in contemporary taiko performance, he blends taiko with rhythms influenced from around the globe into original melodies and improvisations. His WMU visit is part of a 35th anniversary concert tour that has brought together an all-star ensemble of musicians from Japan and the United States.

The Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble features master drummer Endo on taiko and Japanese percussion. The ensemble performs original and neo-traditional compositions for taiko, fue (bamboo flutes), koto (Japanese zither), vibraphones and many other instruments to highlight the new dimensions Endo is bringing to an old Japanese art.

The tour is being sponsored in part by the Japan Foundation; Tradex, a National Organization for Traditional Artists Exchange; and the Taiko Arts Center. The stop in Kalamazoo is being sponsored by WMU's Soga Japan Center, College of Fine Arts, Haenicke Institute for Global Education and School of Music, as well as the Kalamazoo College Department of Music.

Tickets

Tickets for the Endo ensemble performance may be purchased at the door or during pre-concert ticket sales from 12 to 2 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 27-28, and Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 1-2, on the lower level of WMU's Bernhard Center in the food court area.

For more information, contact WMU's Christine Paruch at hige-lightcenter@wmich.edu or (269) 387-3951.

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Media contact: Jeanne Baron, (269) 387-8400, jeanne.baron@wmich.edu

WMU News
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