September 2019: A New Season

That’s right, we’re back from summer and ready to go!….Even though summer “break” involved much less of a break than usual. After record-breaking attendance of our All-Ages Recreational Taiko (AART) classes during the 18-19 season, we listened to our students’ requests for more taiko and kept them running throughout the summer. In August, several Odaiko Sonora members also attended, taught, and/or performed at the biennial North American Taiko Conference – and the rest of us were jealous that they got to spend a weekend in much-cooler Portland, OR!

School residencies also reached a record high this past year. We added rural programs in Elgin and Sierra Vista and piloted the revolutionary TaikoMIND curriculum at Ash Creek in collaboration with Mindful Matters, LLC. This year, we’ll continue to grow with a Lovell Foundation grant supporting development of that pilot program, which promises to be one of our fastest growing new endeavors! As always, bachi clicks of appreciation to the Opening Minds through the Arts (OMA) program and the Arizona Commission on the Arts (ACA), who help make our residencies happen.

And, of course, it wouldn’t be the start of our performance season without performances! We had a fantastic season opener at the Tucson Museum of Art Family Day, and over the next few months we’re looking forward to seeing all our longtime friends and making new ones. Here’s where you can find us:

• Sun., Sept 21, 6:40pm: Drum-Up for Peace Festival
• Sat., Oct 12, 5:00pm: Tucson Meet Yourself
• Oct. 3, 10, 17, 24, 5-7pm: All Souls Procession lantern workshops
• Oct. 23, 5:30-6:30pm; Oct 26, 12:30-1:30pm: All Souls Procession Obon workshops
• Sun. Nov. 3: All Souls Procession
• Sat., Nov. 9, 9:30am: 2019 Walk to End Alzheimer’s
• Sat. Dec. 7, 7am: Tucson Marathon

We hope to see you there – and in the meantime, happy drumming!