About One World Taiko

One World Taiko presents a contemporary style of Japanese drumming that incorporates dynamic and fluid movement as well as heart pounding percussion. The music is drawn from Japan's ancient tradition of lively and spirited festival drumming and One World Taiko’s own creative rhythms, arrangements and choreography, adding a modern spirit to the ancient tradition of taiko. Their repertoire includes traditional pieces, which were taught to them by the world-renowned groups Kodo and Ondekoza from Japan, and their own original compositions infused with contemporary rhythms from their love of jazz and world music. They perform on traditional Japanese instruments such as odaiko (large drum), chudaiko (medium sized drum), shimedaiko (small, rope-tied drum), shinobue (bamboo flute) and koto (13-stringed zither like instrument) along with Japanese percussion instruments such as atarigane (brass gong), chappa (hand cymbals) and hyotan (gourd shaker).

One World Taiko, founded in 1990 in San Francisco, California, is led by founding members Gary Tsujimoto and Nancy Ozaki. Gary was a founding member and former artistic director and lead drummer for San Jose Taiko. Gary also performed with the professional Japanese group, Ondekoza, as a guest artist during their USA tour in 1986. Nancy began her taiko career as a member of Denver Taiko and performed as a member with Ondekoza during their tours of Japan, Europe and the USA in 1987. Additional members of the group are Marcia Takamura, a master on Japanese koto (13-string zither like instrument) and shamisen (3-string banjo like instrument). Robin Early who studied taiko in Japan and performed with several taiko groups in the Tokyo area for 9 years and Hitomi Early who is a trained musician on the saxophone.

This past August, One World Taiko was selected to perform in Seattle at Benaroya Hall's S. Mark Taper Auditorium for the North American Taiko Conference's major concert called Taiko Jam. The concert featured 4 top taiko groups in the United States and Canada.

One World Taiko has performed full time at the Epcot Center's Japan Pavilion at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida for 4 years, at Boston's First Night Celebration for the 2000 Millennium, the International Taiko Festival in Berkeley, CA, San Francisco’s Cherry Blossom Festival, the Project to Cure Paralysis in Miami, FL, the Sun and Stars Festival of Japanese Arts in Dallas, TX, the Colorado Performing Arts Festival in Denver, CO, the Grand Opening of the Exploris Museum in Raleigh, NC and numerous other venues throughout the United States and Japan. they also have performed at several large corporate events such as the McCaw Hall Opera House grand opening, Seattle's Main Library grand opening, the Jackson Hole Film Festival Opening Gala in Jackson Hole, WY, Healing Journeys in Greenville, SC, the Sony Corporation’s Annual Awards Convention in Las Vegas, NV, the National Council on Education in Ceramic Arts Convention, Janus Funds Holiday Party in Denver, CO, the Midwest US-Japan Association Annual Convention in Omaha, NE, the Kawasaki Motors Corporation USA Holiday Party in Lincoln, NE and the Genetech Corporation Holiday Party in San Francisco, CA.

One World Taiko has auditioned and has been selected by juries to several regional Performing Arts Rosters. They were on the roster of Young Audiences of the San Francisco Bay Area from 1992-93, were touring guest artists with the Denver, Colorado Chapter of Young Audiences from 1993-97. They were on Colorado Artists Showcase and ArtReach rosters during the years 1998-2001. In Seattle, Washington, One World Taiko was selected to be on the King County Arts Commission's Touring Arts Roster for 2002-2008 . In addition, they were selected for the Washington State Arts Commission's Artist in Residence Program for 2003-2008.

You may have seen One World Taiko performing regularly in different parts of the country at one time or another. From 1990 to mid 1993, we were located in San Francisco, California. From mid 1993 to mid 1997, we were living in Orlando, Florida and performing at Walt Disney World. From mid 1997 to mid 2001 we were based in Denver, Colorado. Now we are based in Seattle, Washington.