The Embassy of Japan in collaboration with the Japan Foundation presented Japanese Taiko drum experts Kaoru Watanabe and Isaku Kageyama in concert in Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados. The Trinidad and Tobago concert held on January 15, 2013 at Queen's Hall at 6:30pm, which featured local pannist Keisha Codrington as well as UTT instumentalists and visiting music lecturers Deborah Moore and Brian Kushmaul. Tickets were distributed free of charge to the public.
This was followed by a concert in Barbados on January 17 at the Frank Collymore Hall whereby the Japanese artistes were joined by the energetic Haynesville Youth club. Tickets were distributed to the public free of charge at the Hall.
Biography of Isaku Kageyama
Isaku Kageyama is an internationally renowned taiko performer and composer known for adapting classical Japanese music to a wide range of styles. Isaku has performed or recorded with musicians such as Eric Kamau Gravatt, Terumasa Hino, Toshinori Kondo, and Kazutoki Umezu, as well as fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto and anime legend Takashi Yanase. After working as one of the principal drummers of Tokyo-based taiko ensemble Amanojaku, Isaku moved to Boston, MA to attend Berklee College of Music where he currently studies Percussion and Contemporary Writing. Isaku is also recognized as a leading taiko instructor, and currently holds positions at Wellesley University and University of Connecticut. He has conducted workshops across the globe for organizations such as Berklee College of Music (Boston), North American Taiko Conference (Stanford University), Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center (New York), Brazil Taiko Association (Sao Paulo), French Institute of Japan (Tokyo), and Yokohama International School (Yokohama). (From isakukageyama.com)
Biography of Kaoru Watanabe
Kaoru Watanabe is a New York based practitioner of various Japanese traverse bamboo fue or flutes, the taiko drum as well as the Western flute. His music can be best described as an ever shifting blend of the folk and classical traditions of Japan with contemporary improvisational and experimental music. Kaoru has performed with such artists as jazz pianist Jason Moran and Kabuki actor Bando Tamasaburo, and was a member and artistic director of Japanese taiko ensemble Kodo.
Kaoru was born in St. Louis, MO to symphony musician parents, Ayako and Haruka Watanabe. In 1997, after graduating from the Manhattan School of Music with a BFA in jazz flute and saxophone performance, Kaoru moved to Sado Island, Japan in order to join the iconic and hugely influential taiko group Kodo. Kaoru was selected to join the company after a two year apprenticeship, which included a daily regiment of six mile runs and five to eight hours of practice in taiko, folk dance and song, various fue, tea ceremony, Noh and Kyogen theater, farming and woodworking. With Kodo, Kaoru toured in Japan, North America and Europe, performing in such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Barbican and Kabukiza. From 2005 to 2007, Kaoru served as one of Kodo's artistic directors, focussing on their world music festival Earth Celebration which featured such luminaries as Zakir Hussain, Giovanni Hildago, Yamashita Yosuke and Tamango. Kaoru's compositions can be heard on Kodo albums Mondo Head, Prism Rhythm and One Earth Tour Special on Sony Records.
In late 2006, Kaoru left Kodo and returned to NY to teach and continue performing in a diverse array of musical and artistic settings, whether in collaboration with Alicia Hall Moran at the Whitney Museum, performing fue with singer Imani Uzuri and dancer Camille Brown at New York's Summerstage, or creating a soundscape for an installation by ceramic and video artist Simone Leigh. Recent projects have taken him across the globe to such places as Mongolia, French Guiana, Argentina and the Caribbean and have received support from the Japan Foundation and Asian Cultural Council.
As an educator, Kaoru teaches workshops and masterclasses internationally, courses at Princeton and Wesleyan University and regular classes at his own studio, the Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center in Brooklyn.
Kaoru's fue are provided by master flute maker Ranjo.
www.watanabekaoru.com
www.taikonyc.com
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