Pittsburgh Taiko is happy to join the performing lineup for the Pittsburgh Zoo’s Asian Lantern Festival, which runs from mid-August to the end of October.
(We aren’t performing every night – we’re a small group! But we’ll add the dates to our calendar in a few days.)
We’ll also be there to welcome you to the kickoff event, Wild Illuminations, on August 13. This festival preview party includes food, drink, music, activities, and entertainment for guests 21 and up. Tickets and details are available here: https://www.pittsburghzoo.org/wild-illuminations/
Not sure what to expect? Here’s a preview of some of the sights!
Since most of our core group has been fully vaccinated, we’re gradually coming out of isolation and returning to regular practice!
We have a lot of fun events on the schedule for later this year – but we need more taiko players to make them awesome! Would you like to join us?
If you haven’t played taiko before, we can teach you. We’re running some casual, socially distanced outdoor lessons over the next several weeks – check the Beginner Sessions page for details!
Make sure you get on our email list to find out when the practices are. Since we’re holding these outdoors we have to work around the weather and other park users, so we can’t always schedule more than a few days in advance. Email us at pitt.taiko+recruit21@gmail.com (mailto link) to learn more.
If you have played taiko before, that’s awesome and we’d love to have you play with us. Come join a practice and meet us – we’re a community group where everyone can participate. Use the email above to get in touch.
We probably should have noticed this last year, but until 2020 we were always pretty busy around this time of year….
So now it’s the 11th anniversary of our first public performances!
The first two performances happened back to back. We performed at a Pitt departmental event, Celebration of World Music, on Saturday December 5. On Sunday the 6th we joined with another taiko group from the region to represent the Japanese Classroom at the Nationality Rooms Open House.
Playing Renshuu (練習)!
The Open House performance was our first time on real drums!
This year’s this year’s Pitt Nationality Rooms Open House is online! Check out globalhub.pitt.edu/holiday-open-house between December 6 and December 18 to see all the presentations.
Thanks to the Japanese Classroom Committee for inviting us to participate!
December 6 Update
The open house content is live now! New videos will be released every day through the 18th.
The Japanese Nationality Room’s videos will premiere on these days:
We have joined the lineup at the last minute for the WorldSquare international festival in Market Square this Friday, September 13. Come see us! We perform 8:00-8:30.
We are hard at work getting ready for our performance in Washington DC on Sunday, March 31 at the National Cherry Blossom Festival!
Sakura Taiko Takeover 2018 (photo: Eric Gardner)
We were lucky enough to join some of our friends from the taiko community last year at this event, and we’re excited to have another opportunity. (Thanks to Mark H Rooney, Miyako Taiko, and all the other local organizers!)
