Ducks enjoying their new pond on the taiko stage at Arizona Matsuri.Alas! Our AZ Matsuri performance was rained out – the first time in 20 years! The 50-minute set we’d prepared was full of firsts – song premieres, a record-breaking number of players, and the Phoenix debut of our Asano Gekko. But as you can see, the only ones who got onstage that morning were the ducks.
We’d planned to perform the set in Tucson at our April 4 Recital and Fundraiser. However, since the well-being of our players and audience members comes first, we’ve canceled due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. All of our upcoming gigs are also being canceled, enrollment has suffered, and school programs and studio rentals are on indefinite hold. This means lost revenue and lean times for a small nonprofit like Odaiko Sonora.
It costs us about $5K–6K a month to operate the group and studio. We ask you to consider helping us through the challenges ahead with even a small donation. You’ve most likely seen us FREE at festivals, parades, schools, and marathons. Just a few dollars from each of the nearly 120,000 people who enjoy our free taiko performances will keep us up and running.
Here are some easy ways to support us:
- Venmo to “Odaiko Sonora”
- PayPal to taiko@pobox.com
- Mail a check to Odaiko Sonora, 5732 E. 2nd St. Tucson, AZ 85711
- If you order from Amazon, use Amazon Smile instead. It’s the exact same interface as Amazon, but you can use the “Supporting” dropdown menu to designate Odaiko Sonora as the charity receiving a portion of the sale.
The good news is we are resilient. As you will see from the linked videos, we turned the rained-out Saturday All AZ Taiko Team performance into a wonderful community sing-along, and Sunday the sun came out so we could do it for real with the drums. With your support over the next few months, we’ll get through this, too.