Acclaimed Taiko Drummer Kenny Endo to Give Concert

Internationally known taiko (Japanese drum) performing artist Kenny Endo will give a concert at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 23, at the Carleton College Concert Hall. Endo will be accompanied by Gao Hong, adjunct instructor in Chinese musical instruments on pipa (Chinese lute) and Dave Hagedorn, assistant professor of music at St. Olaf College, on percussion. The event, co-sponsored by Carleton’s Asian studies program and Committee for the Studies in the Arts, is free and open to the public.

A leader in the field of utilizing the traditional taiko in innovative jazz/fusion settings, Endo is a performer, composer, percussionist and the artistic director of the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensembles based in Honolulu, the U.S. mainland and Tokyo. Endo’s music combines his unique background in Japanese, Western, and world percussion to create a refreshing sound that transcends cultural, gender and age barriers. Endo has several recordings and film/television appearances to his credit.

A native of Los Angeles and now based in Hawaii, Endo studied with Kinnara Taiko, Seiichi Tanaka and the San Francisco Taiko Dojo before embarking on a 10-year study/performance odyssey focusing on traditional Japanese taiko and the festival music of old Tokyo in Japan. He became the first non-Japanese national to be honored with a natori (stage name) and a master’s degree in classical Japanese drumming called Hogaku Hayashi. He has performed with many legendary musicians throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia including Art Blakey (jazz drummer), Airto Moreira (Brazilian percussionist), Paul Jackson (bassist), Kazumi Watanabe (jazz guitarist), Akira Tana (jazz drummer), Eitetsu Hayashi (taiko), Kiyohiko Semba (percussionist), Hiroyuki Koinuma (flutist) and others. Endo has broken new ground for taiko as guest soloist with the Honolulu Symphony and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestras. He is sought after by taiko groups and universities to conduct workshops and master classes, and was a judge for the 2nd Annual Tokyo International Taiko Contest in 2003. His projects for 2004 include an eight-concert performance/workshop tour of Germany and Belgium, the Intercollegiate Taiko Invitational, the Hawaii International Taiko Festival, Hawaii International Taiko Convention, and collaborations with innovative classical Japanese percussionist Semba Kiyohiko, East Indian dancer Parijat and Honolulu Symphony timpanist Stuart Chafetz. Endo also serves as the artistic director of Taiko Center of the Pacific, a school of traditional and contemporary Japanese drumming based in Honolulu.

For more information and disability accommodations, contact Paula Arai, assistant professor of religion, at (507) 646-7164.