REDUCTION
TAIKO LEGACY
TAIKO LEGACY & REDUCTION IN 2024
DECEMBER 14th & 15th
at the Edlis Neeson Theater at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
details & ticketing information to be announced.
Taiko Legacy is one of the largest taiko concerts in the midwest built on the efforts of community activism in Asian American and Japanese American performing arts across the country. Led by Chicago’s renowned taiko group, Tsukasa Taiko presents a conceptually diverse and dynamic musical performance full of original arrangements that pay homage to ozashiki (geisha chamber music), ohayashi (classical/folk/theater music), and matsuri taiko (festival taiko music).
This past December, AIRMW celebrated the 20th anniversary of Taiko Legacy with a special presentation of Taiko Legacy that collaborated with Long standing partner Grandmaster Chizuru Kineya and Chicago Grandmaster Yoshinojo Fujima joined Tsukasa Taiko with new guests; koto and shamisen performer Yoko “Reikano” Kimura, Japanese classical dancer Kanshichinao Fujima from Japan.
Reduction is a theatrical presentation with a goal to construct a bridge between tradition and modernity in a single performance and define the contemporary Asian American and Japanese American musical experience. Accentuating the potential and artistry of refined subdued taiko performance, Reduction presents an influx of free fluid improvisational compositions amongst the steady melodies and rhythms of traditional Japanese instrumentation.
In Reduction's ninth iteration; Tsukasa Taiko was joined by a returning lineup of Grandmaster Chizuru Kineya from Tokyo, local Grandmaster Yoshinojo Fujima, Melody Takata and members of GenRyu Arts from San Francisco; alongside creative music legends Hamid Drake and Michael Zerang and virtually by Nicole Mitchell. This past year Reduction invited two new guests: New York based koto player Yoko "Reikano" Kimura and classical dancer Kanshichinao Fujima from Japan.
Taiko Legacy 20 / Reduction 9 is a program of Asian Improv aRts Midwest (AIRMW) and is supported in part by general operating support received from the Illinois Arts Council Agency; the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Alphawood Foundation, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), the Walder Foundation, Joyce Foundation, and the National Endowment of Arts.