Eastern Taiko Conference 2012

Greetings,

We are incredibly excited to inform you that registration is now open for the 2nd Eastern Taiko Conference, which will be held March 30-April 1, 2012 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut!

The deadline for registration is 5pm on March 14, 2012, so register now at http://www.wesleyan.edu/boxoffice. Click on the item titled “Wesleyan Presents 2nd Eastern Taiko Conf.” If your school requires that you pay your registration fees by check please email our Box Office Associate Kyle Beaudette at kbeaudette@wesleyan.edu.

Fee

The fee for students is $93.20 and the fee for adults is $175.95. There is also a box office handling fee of 3.5% per ticket which is included in the price stated.

The registration price includes four meals, concert ticket, programme booklet, workshop and discussion fees, and a souvenir T-shirt. Housing and travel are separate.

There will be three workshops of a 2.5 hour duration, three discussion panels and a concert by Taikoproject, On Ensemble and Kaoru Watanabe Ensemble feat. Patrick Graham and Kenny Endo.

Workshop Leaders and Discussion Panelists

We are honored to present some of the best players, teachers, historians and scholars in our field. This year we will also be gathering ethnomusicologists specializing in taiko for the first time ever.

Our workshop leaders are:

Taikoproject
Patrick Graham
Kenny Endo
Kaoru Watanabe
Mark H. Rooney
Miles Endo
Shoji Kameda
Kristofer Bergstrom
Masato Baba
PJ Hirabayashi
Roy Hirabayashi
Isaku Kageyama
Stuart Paton

Our discussion panelists are:

Alan Okada
Steven Sano
Linda Uyechi
Deborah Wong
Shawn Bender
Jennifer Matsue
Su Zheng

Concert

We will be presenting a concert by On Ensemble and Kaoru Watanabe Ensemble. TAIKOPROJECT are in negotiations to join them. Concert tickets will be available to the public as well.

Accommodation

Two local hotels have agreed to give us special rates for the conference. It may be advisable to call them to take advantage of their rates.

1) Hampton Inn at Meriden, CT
(203) 235-5154

Taiko Conference Rate: $54/room/night

– Call and ask for Taiko Block Two!

– Limit of 5 guests per room (two double beds)
– 20 minute drive from campus

2) The Inn at Middletown, Middletown, CT
(800) 637-9851
http://www.innatmiddletown.com/

Taiko Conference Rate: $120/room/night

– No limit on guests per room (two double beds)
– Walking distance from campus

Travel

Sandra Shen of O-Tatsu Taiko has kindly offered to try and arrange special discount codes for players looking to fly into Connecticut or New York for the conference. Please email her at shen.sandra@yahoo.com or add her on Facebook to take advantage of this great opportunity.

Equipment

Once again, we are asking if groups can consider bringing equipment to Conference. We will not be able to run it without your help and we have arranged to give any group who brings their equipment a small stipend to help defray costs. Please contact syudhistira@wesleyan.edu if you think you are able to with what drums you have and what costs you will incur.

– Update: We are still in need of Chappa, Yatai Bayashi Stands, Chudaiko and Naname (Slant/Sukeroku) Stands.

Schedule

Friday March 30

17.30 – 00.00 – Registration, Unloading, Open Jam/Show-and-tell*

Saturday March 31

08.30 – 10.00 – Opening Session (Panel: Taiko History)
10.00 – 12.30 – Workshop I
12.30 – 14.00 – Lunch
14.00 – 16.30 – Workshop II
16.30 – 18.00 – Discussion Session (Panel: Strategies for Successfully Running Your Group)
18.00 – 19.50 – Dinner
21.00 – 23.00 – Concert
23.00 – 00.00 – Leader’s Meeting

Sunday April 1

08.30 – 11.00 – Workshop III
11.00 – 13.00 – Closing Session (Panel: Taiko and Ethnomusicology)

*Participants who arrive earlier than 17.30 can be attended to in the Usdan Campus Center. Drums will be available in the World Music Hall.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Cheryl Tan (cytan@wesleyan.edu).
*

Thank you all for your patience, understanding and continued support towards building a cohesive East Coast taiko identity and community. Please do not hesitate to contact Cheryl Tan at cytan@wesleyan.edu with any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

 

Again, the deadline for registration is 5pm, February 28, 2012. The deadline has passed! Contact us for more information.

We look forward to meeting new friends, catching up with old ones and learning some fantastic taiko.

Thank you for all of your support, and we hope to see you signing up soon!