Stanford Taiko and Chamber Chorale China Tour July 4, 2008

Time: 2008/7/4
Venue: People's Liberation Army Opera House
Price: 80/120/180/280/380/580
Tel: 86-10-64177845
Web: www.piao.com.cn

Performer: Stanford Taiko

The Stanford Chamber Chorale

About Stanford Taiko
Adramatic performance ensemble with roots in Japanese folk drummingfused with musical and cultural influences from North America, StanfordTaiko is recognized as the leading collegiate taiko group in North America.For 15 years, Stanford Taiko has mesmerized audiences and has madeimpacting contributions to North American Taiko. An ensemble of 16-18members with an all-original repertoire and the sponsorship of theStanford University Department of Music, the group not only supportsthe campus arts community with numerous performances at majoruniversity events, but has also toured both domestically andinternationally and performed to enthusiastic audiences around theworld. Stanford Taiko has toured twice to both Japan and Thailand,including critically acclaimed performances at Thailand’s NationalTheatre, participated by invitation at an intensive drum-buildingresidency workshop hosted by Zenshin Daiko in Hawai‘i, has toured toSeattle and the Pacific Northwest, and is the only collegiate ensembleever invited to perform at Taiko Jam, the major concert at the biennialNorth American Taiko Conference. Stanford Taiko has also studied withmany of the leading master teachers in taiko both in Japan and North America, including Eitetsu Hayashi, Kiyonari Tosha, and Kenny Endo.

Inaddition to a rigorous schedule of rehearsing and performing, StanfordTaiko members build and maintain their own instruments, as well as todesign and sew their costumes, all while maintaining their demandingacademic programs.

Finally,Stanford Taiko remains true to the goals of its original charter to (i)present taiko to the Stanford community, and (ii) to educate thecommunity about taiko. In addition to performances, the group holdsregular workshops for community members, supports the Department ofMusic research seminar “Perspectives in North American Taiko” andparticipates annually in the Intercollegiate Taiko Invitational,founded by Stanford Taiko in 1995. In keeping with the forward-lookingphilosophy of this ever-changing collegiate organization, StanfordTaiko and its alumni have established the Luis Lujan MemorialScholarship, a fund to support taiko learning and research.

Thoughthe faces of Stanford Taiko change with the regularity of the four-yearcollegiate cycle, the energy of the organization remains forward-movingas the organization works to keep the taiko spirit strong and steady inthe Stanford community and share its music, energy, and art with allthose who will be drawn in.

About The Stanford Chamber Chorale
The Stanford Chamber Chorale is Stanford University's most select choir and comprises 24 voices drawn from both graduate and undergraduate students at Stanford University. Hailing from across the United Statesand around the world, these singers represent a broad range of academicdisciplines and degree programs. As members of the Chamber Chorale,these Stanford students meet a demanding schedule of performing,touring, and recording while maintaining their rigorous academicprograms.

Overthe years, the Chorale has toured in the United States, Japan, England,Wales, Scotland, Austria, Germany, Israel, Italy and France, and hasappeared in a notable list of venues, including the great Britishcathedrals in Ely, Llandaff (Cardiff), Lincoln, Salisbury, Wells, andYork, at the great parish churches Romsey Abbey, and St. Mary Redcliffe(Bristol), and at Trinity College Chapel (Cambridge), New CollegeChapel (Oxford), Magdalen College Chapel, (Oxford), the BerlinPhilharmonie, Rikkyo University Chapel (Japan), Hakodate Geijutsu Hall(Japan), Kitahiroshima-shi Geijutsu Bunka Hall (Japan), Benaroya MusicCenter (Seattle), BBC Radio, the National Television of Austria, andthe Armed Forces Television Network.

TheChorale has also performed collaboratively with some of the mostrenowned performing organizations in the world, including England'sTallis Scholars, Joyful Company of Singers, and the Choir of TrinityCollege, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and St. Hedwig CathedralChoir (Berlin), and master flamenco guitarist Paco Pe?a. Dedicated tothe performance of literature best suited to the small choral ensemble,the Chamber Chorale has had the honor of receiving works from renownedcomposers Randall Thompson, Kirke Mechem, Takeo Kudo, Jiri Laburda, andPaul Crabtree.

Throughits recordings and tours, the Chorale continues to gain recognition inthe international choral community. Dr. John Bertalot, ChoirmasterEmeritus at England'sBlackburn Cathedral, praised the Chorale's performance on its CD Voicesof Christmas as "a tour de force of choral technique [that] gives meunbounded delight." The Chorale's recent and upcoming touringactivities that include: Japan, 2001; Pacific Northwest and Canada,2002; England and Wales, 2003; Hawai'i, 2004; Germany and Austria,2005; Los Angeles and SouthernCalifornia, 2006; Seattle and England, 2007; China, 2008: Hawai'i,2009; and Australia and New Zealand (2010) continue to heighten thevisibility of both the ensemble and Stanford University's commitment tomusic performance and the arts.

Official Website: http://www.piao.com.cn