Walls reverberated with a loud history as Kyodo Taiko drummers moved in perfect unison, striking their large drums in a mix of martial arts and percussion.
Formed in 1990, Kyodo Taiko was the first collegiate taiko group in the United States. On Saturday the student-run organization will celebrate its 25th anniversary in its spring concert in the Freud Playhouse. The concert is called “Shukusai,” which means “celebration” in Japanese.
As taiko becomes more prevalent in college communities, the group wanted to pay homage to their origins, said Leslie Lam, a second-year computer science student and a member of the group.
“It’s a celebration of taiko becoming a part of the collegiate community,” Lam said.
Since its founding, Kyodo Taiko has kept in touch with its origins through the drums that are used. The current members still use the same drums that the group’s original members built by hand with wine barrels and cow hides more than 20 years ago, said fourth-year linguistics and French student Daniel Tran.
“You can still smell the wine when you change the hides,” Tran said.
The group will also recognize its past in performing pieces that were written by alumni dating back to Kyodo’s beginnings. For example, they will be performing a piece named “Matsuri,” meaning “festival,” written by an alumni member in 2012.
Nick Petrik, a second-year atmospheric, oceanic and environmental sciences student, had to learn, choreograph and teach this piece to the Kyodo Taiko performers as one of the song leaders. Petrik said the song leaders have the choice to edit the pieces that they preside over, but he personally preferred to keep his song true to its original composition.
While the current organization has kept some traditions and practices of the past, new members continue to transform and evolve Kyodo Taiko with their personal styles, said Vivian Vo, a fourth-year psychology student and co-director of the group. Tran said some members draw on newer musical influences, like African safari beats, while composing their pieces.
“Songs from back then were a little bit more traditional, and as the years have passed the songs have become a little more flashy,” Vo said.
All songs that will be performed are written by current or past Kyodo Taiko members. Tran, who joined the group as a second-year student, wrote his own piece for the concert. He said he took most of his inspiration from heavy metal rock.
“(My piece) was a culmination of everything that I’d learned,” Tran said. “I wanted to write a song that was different than the other pieces.”
New members also have the opportunity to showcase a song that they have collaborated on and written together. Every year the piece is performed at Nikkei Student Union’s cultural night and at the annual spring concert, Petrik said.
“Most (members) don’t have musical experience before (joining Kyodo Taiko), and by the end of the year, it’s an incredible development,” Petrik said.
For Kyodo Taiko’s upcoming 25th anniversary, alumni will participate in the show during one of Kyodo Taiko’s signature songs, called “Encore.” In addition, Vo said, Kyodo Taiko members sought to increase the size of their production by hosting their concert in the Freud Playhouse instead of the usual Northwest Campus Auditorium.
Lam said the group wants to encourage people to embrace this art form, in the hopes that it will have a lasting impact on others.
Kendall Tani, a third-year Asian American studies student, said being a group director and preparing for the concert has been a hectic and time-consuming process. She said that she looks forward to executing the finished production, however, and is proud that Kyodo Taiko will be able to share its art form.
“You can go see an orchestra concert or a dance performance,” Petrik said. “Whereas taiko is a very unique combination of the two. There’s really nothing like it.”