Brooklyn Center Presents SOH DAIKO 3/27

 

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College presents the Soh Daiko Taiko Drum Ensemble on Sunday, March 27, 2011 at 2pm. This free, family-friendly concert is presented in collaboration with Carnegie Hall's Neighborhood Concert Series, a program of the Weill Music Institute, and is sponsored by Target.

About Soh Daiko
Soh Daiko was formed in 1979 at the New York Buddhist Church as the first taiko group on the east coast, taking as its name the ancient, pre-Buddhist characters meaning "peaceful, harmonious drums." (Taiko is the Japanese word for drum.) Today's Taiko ensembles developed out of ancient Japanese traditions into a global, contemporary performing art.

Soh Daiko's current membership numbers about 12, with diverse backgrounds and professions. Their Brooklyn performance will consist of a varied repertoire including compositions from the Shinto music tradition, pieces adapted from existing taiko compositions and original compositions/arrangements by members of Soh Daiko. In addition to drums, the group uses instruments such as the bamboo flute, brass bells, conch shells, gongs, African shekere, and Tahitian toere (wooden slit drum). Much more than mere percussion, Soh Daiko's presentation also features the visual element of movement and choreography, requiring physical strength, endurance and energy.

Soh Daiko has received critical acclaim from The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Dance Magazine, and has been featured on Public Television's Sesame Street and Reading Rainbow, and National Public Radio's All Things Considered. In the New York area, the group has performed at Carnegie Hall, the American Museum of Natural History, the Japan Society, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Lincoln Center, and the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. The group has also performed at the Smithsonian Institute's Festival of American Folklife; the Walker Art Center (Minnesota); the Morikami Museum (Florida); the USA-JAPAN Taiko Festival (San Francisco and Berkeley); and in Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom. The group's debut recording, Soh Daiko, has been released by Lyrichord Discs.

Tickets to this event are free and may be obtained by sending a written request, along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope, to Brooklyn Center, PO Box 100163, Brooklyn, NY 11210, attn: Soh Daiko tickets. Tickets may also be obtained in person at the Brooklyn Center box office. There is a limit of six tickets per household.

About Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts
Founded in 1954, the mission of Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts is to present outstanding performing arts and arts education programs, reflective of Brooklyn's diverse communities, at affordable prices. Brooklyn Center's presentations explore both the classical traditions and the boldest contemporary performances, embracing the world culture that defines Brooklyn. Brooklyn Center welcomes over 70,000 people to the 2,400 seat Walt Whitman Theatre each season, and boasts one of the largest arts education programs in the borough, serving 46,000 schoolchildren from over 300 schools annually with its SchoolTime series. In recognition of its commitment to quality family programming, Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts was voted Brooklyn's Best Theater of Theater Group for Kids as part of Nickelodeon's 2009 ParentsConnect Parents' Picks Awards.