TaikoProject goes back to school!!

UC Irvine to be exact. Home of Jodaiko and the alma mater to many of TP’s current cast members. This Memorial day weekend marked the 15th annual Intercollegiate Taiko Invitational where 14 schools from all over the country gathered together for a jam-packed weekend of fun, friends, food, and most importantly.. taiko.

It was a star-studded weekend with workshop leaders Kenny Endo, Kodo’s Yoshikazu & Yoko Fujimoto, Shasta Taiko’s Russel Baba & Jeanne Mercer, Portland Taiko’s Michelle Fujii, On Ensemble’s Kris Bergstrom and Maz Baba, San Jose Taiko, and Kinnara Taiko. TaikoProject had the honor of being among these taiko greats, leading two different workshops themed Sling Okedo and Syncopation.

And just when you think things couldn’t get more exciting, each day ended with a 2 hour concert emceed by Maz. Debuting this year was CSU Long Beach’s Umidaiko and Brown University’s Brown Gendo Taiko!

Congratulations to Jodaiko for a successful invitational! A huge kudos to Sylvia Gunde, Invitational Coordinator for all her hard work and dedication. I wish i had my own pictures to show instead of stealing them from facebook...

My favorite moment of the weekend?
The creative way that collegiate taiko spends their downtime: The Ninja Game. If you don’t know what it’s all about, ask any collegiate taiko player to fill you in.