Outdoor Performance Featuring St. Louis Osuwa Taiko!

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Program Type:

Entertainment, Music

Age Group:

All Ages
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Program Description

Event Details

Join us for an amazing musical performance featuring St. Louis Osuwa Taiko, a community-driven ensemble that celebrates the Japanese art of taiko through education and performance. This program is made possible by funding from our Pacific Branch Friends of the Library.

This program includes a 30-minute performance followed by a 15-minute workshop for voluntary participants.

Please bring your own seating and dress for the weather.

About the ensemble:

Grandmaster Daihachi Oguchi formed the original Osuwa Daiko in Suwa, Japan, in 1951. In 1986, Oguchi-sensei visited St. Louis (sister city of Suwa) to found St. Louis Osuwa Taiko. A year later, he donated drums. St. Louis Osuwa Taiko started out as a kids' group but has evolved to a nonprofit organization devoted to sharing taiko throughout Missouri and elsewhere through year-round performances, workshops and classes for children, adults, and seniors.

We also continue to build on our ties to Osuwa Daiko. We visited Suwa, Japan, in 2009 to play and study taiko and hosted Osuwa Daiko for a joint show in 2011 in St. Louis to celebrate the 25th anniversary of St. Louis Osuwa Taiko. We believe in preserving and fostering our sister-city relationship with Osuwa Daiko and Suwa, Japan, and acting as cultural ambassadors by introducing new audiences to taiko.

Our largest show each year is at the Japanese Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden on Labor Day weekend. Thousands attend the festival, which has fun activities for all ages, including the Dashi procession, where children pull our Dashi, or portable drum stage on wheels, through the garden.

Disclaimer(s)

If you need accommodations for this class, please contact the Library as soon as you are able.