Children's Drum Workshop
2012/10/5
On October 5th 2012, Mr. Shuichi Hidano with the Taiko Masters held a drum workshop at the Japan Information & Culture Centre (JICC), and later on, at the Nairobi Japanese School. Taiko means drum in Japanese.
At 9:00am, children from Moyo Children’s Centre and Save the Children Centre assembled at the Japan Information & Culture Centre where they were joined by Mr. Hidano and the Taiko Masters.
During this session, the children and the artists performed different songs using various musical instruments. The performances varied from echo/response musical pieces to everyone performing together with whatever instruments they had.
At 9:00am, children from Moyo Children’s Centre and Save the Children Centre assembled at the Japan Information & Culture Centre where they were joined by Mr. Hidano and the Taiko Masters.
During this session, the children and the artists performed different songs using various musical instruments. The performances varied from echo/response musical pieces to everyone performing together with whatever instruments they had.
After the session at the Japan Information & Culture Centre, the children and artists proceeded to the Nairobi Japanese School for a cultural exchange program with Japanese children.
The students of the Nairobi Japanese School presented two performances to the audience. The first performance was by Junior High students. The second performance was by students from the 5th and 6th grade. During these performances, the younger students in the audience would mimic the performance of the drummers.
The students of the Nairobi Japanese School presented two performances to the audience. The first performance was by Junior High students. The second performance was by students from the 5th and 6th grade. During these performances, the younger students in the audience would mimic the performance of the drummers.
After the performances, Shuichi Hidano was welcomed to the stage. He thanked the students of the Nairobi Japanese School for their performance. He told them that they had given him motivation to perform for them. He also advised them to smile a little more as they performed. After his opening remarks, the Taiko Masters ensemble played two songs. Following the first performance, a shamisen piece was played as the stage was prepared for the second performance.
Finally, all four groups joined together and played their hearts out while the ground vibrated to the beat of their drums.
At the end of the workshop, Mr. Hidano remarked that even though some of the children were quite young, they were really good drummers. He also personally extended an invitation to the children to attend the Taiko concert which was to be held the following day.
The children on the other hand said that they loved the experience and that it was a happy one. Some said that they completely lost track of time during the performance and were surprised at how late it was when the workshop ended. The comment that drew the most laughter was from a girl from the Nairobi Japanese School who said that she had never sweated so much because of the energy it took to play the taiko.
At the end of the workshop, Mr. Hidano remarked that even though some of the children were quite young, they were really good drummers. He also personally extended an invitation to the children to attend the Taiko concert which was to be held the following day.
The children on the other hand said that they loved the experience and that it was a happy one. Some said that they completely lost track of time during the performance and were surprised at how late it was when the workshop ended. The comment that drew the most laughter was from a girl from the Nairobi Japanese School who said that she had never sweated so much because of the energy it took to play the taiko.