FEATURED ARTISTS

JASC TSUKASA TAIKO is the leading taiko ensemble in the Chicago area, established as Tsukasa Daiko in 1996 by head Sensei (Instructor) Hide Yoshihashi. In 2004, Tsukasa Daiko, Asian Improv aRts Midwest, and the Japanese American Service Committee (JASC) initiated a collaborative program, establishing the renamed group as a resident arts program of the JASC.

Basing its operations out of the JASC, the organization's mission is to preserve and pass on the traditional concepts of taiko as a cultural legacy and to utilize these concepts in expanding and evolving the taiko form. Dedicated to building community and being a leader in the taiko drumming culture of the Midwest, it maintains a national and international profile by presenting public performances around the world throughout the year. JASC Tsukasa Taiko has performed at the Malta International Theatre Festival/Asian American Jazz Festival: Poznan (Poznan, Poland), the Smithsonian, the Chicago Jazz Festival, and the MCA among many national cultural institutions. It presents classes, workshops, lectures, and demonstrations on taiko performance and its the role in Asian and Asian American culture. Taiko classes are organized quarterly throughout the year for all levels of experience ages five and above.

HIDE YOSHIHASHI, JASC Tsukasa Taiko Founder, was born in Glen Ellyn in 1978. At age eleven, he moved to Japan and joined the school marching band, soon after which he was drawn into the world of taiko. Yoshihashi studied the northern taiko style of Hokkaido (the northern island of Japan). Returning to Illinois, he became a member of Chicago’s Waka Daiko, led by John Sagami. In 1996 Yoshihashi left the group to form Tsukasa Daiko, later to become JASC Tsukasa Taiko in partnership with Asian Improv aRts Midwest and the Japanese American Service Committee.

AMY HOMMA was born in Chicago . A second generation Japanese American, she is a leader in her generation of Chicago Japanese American artists dedicated to working in the traditional Japanese cultural arts. In 1990, she joined the Waka Daiko group to explore her Japanese cultural legacy, and later she joined Tsukasa Taiko. She is also studying Toyoaki Ozashiki shamisen under the instruction of Tatsu Aoki . Amy is a core taiko and shamisen instructor/performer for JASC Tsukasa Taiko and performs with the Miyumi Project, was a part of Basser Live II and performed in the Miyumi Project Big Band’s presentation of re:Rooted at Millennium Park . Recently she performed in Poland as part of the Malta International Theatre Festival 2007. She also studies Japanese Classical dance with Fujima Ryu of Chicago .


WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

FUJIMA SHUNOJO, Founder and Artistic Director of Fujima Ryu of Chicago – The legacy of Japanese classical dance, as practiced by Tokyo’s legendary Fujima Ryu (school/style) continues in Chicago with Fujima Shunojo. Fujima Shunojo taught in Tokyo for several years before founding Fujima Ryu of Chicago, where he has taught and maintained an active performance schedule, celebrating the troupe’s 30th anniversary in 2006. He appears internationally and throughout the Midwest, performing in major venues, college and university campuses, such as Tokyo’s National Theater, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago Cultural Center, Orchestra Hall, and the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2005, Fujima Shunojo became a resident artist at the Japanese American Service Committee of Chicago, helping to establish the JASC as a leading center for Japanese and Japanese American cultural arts.

MELODY TAKATA, Founder and Artistic Director of San Francisco’s Gen Taiko, has been performing for more than twenty years in Japan and the US. Takata grew up in the Japanese American community of Los Angeles with a rich experience in traditional arts, learning at age eight odori (Japanese dance) at the Nishi Hongwanji as part of the obon festival ritual (festival honoring ancestors). From age twelve to twenty she had formal study of Nihon Buyo (Japanese classical dance) at the Fujima school under Madame Fujima Kansuma. From age thirteen to eighteen she studied shamisen with the Kineya school. At age fifteen she began studying and performing with Los Angeles Matsuri, and five years later traveled to Japan to study and later perform as a member of Tokyo’s O Edo Sukeroku Taiko, one of Japan’s most highly renowned taiko ensembles. Since moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1988, she has also performed with San Francisco Taiko Dojo.

JASON MATSUMOTO is a fourth generation Japanese American and was exposed to taiko as a member of the Midwest Buddhist Temple’s Ho Etsu Daiko youth group under the direction of his parents. While studying at the University of Washington, Matsumoto performed with Tsunami Taiko.

RYAN TOGURI a fourth generation Japanese American, was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He started learning taiko at the age of 7 with the Midwest Buddhist Temple Dharma School Taiko group. At 13, he advanced to the Midwest Buddhist Temple Taiko group, where he currently serves as the practice leader and a performing member. Along with playing taiko, he has also taught the younger children at the Midwest Buddhist Temple, giving them the same opportunity that he had to learn taiko.

From 2001 to 2005, he performed with two unique groups. One was a three-man Taiko ensemble, San-gen Daiko, with taiko players Jason Matsumoto (Ho Etsu Daiko) and Hide Yoshihashi (JASC Tsukasa Taiko). The second was a jazz-fusion big band, The Miyumi Project, led by Chicago bassist Tatsu Aoki. Ryan has been credited on several recordings including the award winning “ROOTED: Origins of Now”, “Basser Live II”, and “re:ROOTED”. More recently, he has been a member of the working committee for the 2005 and 2007 North American Taiko Conferences and also served as a discussion panelist for the 2005 conference.


CHIZURU KINEYA is a Nagauta Shamisen artist and an accredited master of the instrument from the legendary Kineya Shamisen family. Chizuru started traditional Nagauta Shamisen studies at the age of 6 and has been performing professionally in the mainstream Japanese music and performing arts scene. In addition to her regular appearances at the National Theater of Japan, she has been active in workshops for regional schools and media to educate the general public of the nearly 400 year history of shamisen tradition. She has also collaborated with contemporary classical musicians. The 11th Annual Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival is her debut appearance in the US and her first collaboration with the Chicago Blues tradition.

KOUJIME YOSHIMURA is a frequent collaborator of shamisen master Chizuru Kineya, exploring a new direction of nagauta and traditional shamisen music. She started her performing career at the age of three. She is currently working under grand master Matsunaga Chugoro VIII and positioning herself as one of the key figure in the Women’s Shamisen League. She is the leader of the nagauta organization, MATSUIKAI.