Spirit of Rice, a piece by Kenny Endo, and was originally composed for the Honolulu Festival's Omikoshi (portable shrine) which is dedicated to the spirit of rice. It was performed by his contemporary ensemble during the Ten Ten Concert at the Hawaii Theatre on October 10, 2015. This performance ...

Composed in 2001 by Chizuko Endo,Yamamba is a female mountain spirit who embodies both love and beauty but appears as a haggard demonic being. When the full moon rises and snow begins to fall, Yamamba appears. Her dance symbolizes her endless solitary journey through the mountains. She represents...

Lively, raucous, and fun, Izakaya Groove weaves together simple rhythms in complex ways, creating a whole that's more than the sum of its parts. Written in 2012 and now played by groups across the US and internationally, the song invokes the almost, but not quite, out of control atmosphere of an ...

Ai Matsuda performed EDO KOTOBUKI JISHI (江戸寿獅子), the Lion Dance of Edo in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Japanese lion dance, or shishimai, is used in Japan during festivals to bring good luck, especially at the beginning of a new year. The art form has been popularized in North America in the past decade...

Uchiage
by Elias Chanteloup, Kelsey Kua, Misato Muraoka, and Tony Salatino

The name, Uchiage, comes from the term Uchiage-Hanabi (Fireworks). All of the movements are meant to mimic the explosive nature of fireworks and the unexpected nature of where the next one will appear. Uchiage also transl...

Recorded in December of 2022, we asked our Senior Vocationists what their holiday season is like. As all taiko groups are different, so too are the gigs they accept at one of the busiest times of year. Do they choose between gigging and family or do they try to do both? And they share some unusua...