Renowned Taiko Drummers to Strike Porter Theatre

The Taiko Center of Los Angeles performs at Westmont Saturday, Jan. 22, at 7 p.m. in Porter Theater. “A Taiko Drum Concert” includes special guest Hiroyuki Hayashida, former member of Kodo, the world’s most renowned Taiko group from Japan. Tickets to the event, which is co-sponsored by Westmont’s Intercultural Programs and the Music Department, are $5 for students; $10 general admission. All proceeds benefit Emmaus Road, a Westmont summer service program that has been sending students overseas for 12 years.

The Taiko Center of Los Angeles was founded in 1996 by director Tom Kurai to preserve the art of Japanese taiko drumming. Taiko is a powerful visual art form that combines the discipline of martial arts and music. The group performs traditional and contemporary Japanese taiko music.

The Taiko Center of Los Angeles has received acclaim for creating taiko music for recordings, motion picture scores, video games, live theater and dance. The group has received the Lester Horton Dance award as well as honors from LA Weekly, Dramalogue and the Inland Theatre Arts League.

Other taiko performers include Denise Donovan, Maceo Hernandez, Grace Kaito, Judi Kaminishi, Harriet Mizuno-Moyer, Taylor Moyer, Ray Nagami, Mike Penny and Gary St. Germain.