On Saturday, April 12, you have the chance to witness an ancient art form come alive. Local taiko group Sangha Taiko is performing at Boise State University, and it’s shaping up to be an experience you won’t want to miss.

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What is taiko?

In Japanese, taiko literally means “drum,” but taiko has also come to refer to the art of Japanese drumming. The taiko we see with Sangha Taiko and other groups in Boise and across the US is also known as kumi-daiko, or a taiko ensemble playing various drums together. It’s unknown exactly when taiko was developed, but evidence shows taiko were present in Japan during the 6th century in the Kofun period (300-538 AD).

There are several different styles of taiko drums: odaiko (large barrel-shaped drums), shime-daiko (smaller drums with a short, wide body), chu-daiko (medium barrel-shaped drums), and performances also include other percussion instruments like cymbals, gongs, and shakers. The drums rest on wooden stands, angled to emphasize their size and invite powerful strikes.

Another distinct part of taiko is kiai, when performers shout or vocalize throughout a song. These vocalizations aren’t written into the music – they’re spontaneous releases of energy, similar to martial arts.

Throughout history, taiko have been used as a religious instrument (people thought the ancestors spirit lived in the drum), in villages (the sound of the drum signified the perimeter of the village), and in battle (to motivate troops, call out orders, and set a marching pace).

Taiko wasn’t really used as a musical instrument until kumi-daiko was developed in 1951 by Daihachi Oguchi, a jazz musician. Several other taiko groups emerged in Japan throughout the 1950s and 60s, but taiko became visible on the global stage during the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, when it was featured during the Festival of Arts.

Sangha Taiko

A Sangha Taiko performance is part concert, part choreography, and part cultural experience.

I first saw Sangha Taiko perform at this year’s Lunar New Year Celebration at JUMP. Even though they were performing with a fraction of their full group at that event, I was shocked and delighted by the intensity of sound. It’s physical. Standing in the back behind a seated audience, I could feel each beat in my chest as it reverberated through the room.

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Performers wear coordinated attire – for this performance it was black and white happi coats, a traditional tube-sleeved Japanese coat usually worn during festivals.

Each drummer held bachi (wooden drumsticks) and took their places on stage with a sense of solemnity. Their expression focused, almost meditative. The performance began with a single strike of a huge odaiko in center stage. Seconds later, a smaller drum took over, slowly building the rhythm. The sound became layered, growing in intensity as more drummers joined in.

The choreography is one of the coolest parts of a Sangha Taiko performance. Each drummer moved with practiced precision, their arms slicing through the air in wide, deliberate arcs. Every strike is full-bodied, involving the legs, hips, shoulders, and breath. Taiko is not just drumming – it’s a full-body performance.

Taeko D'Andrea is the leader of Sangha Taiko. She grew up listening to taiko at festivals in Japan, but she didn’t begin playing until 2000. At the time she was living in Santa Cruz and had enrolled her son in a taiko class. His class was from 5-6pm and she discovered there was a beginner adult class from 7-8pm. “I figured well since I’m here, I might as well do mine too,” she said.

Within a year Taeko had moved into the advanced class and by year three, she had become the group’s business manager and instructor. Taeko led the Santa Cruz drumming group until 2016, when she and her husband moved to Boise to retire. She had one stipulation: "I told him, I’m totally willing to move, but taiko is part of my life. It’s my life thing," said Taeko.

As soon as she got to Boise, Taeko began searching for a taiko group. She found a former taiko teacher from Pocatello, who told Taeko about a dormant taiko group that was associated with the Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Temple located in Ontario. They had all the equipment but needed a new leader and group.

“​​It was much more attractive to me to actually revitalize this dormant group than being a drummer for other groups. So I contacted the person at the temple and by 2017 we were practicing – me and two others,” said Taeko.

Eight years later, Sangha Taiko is eight members strong. Some members are Japanese or have a connection to Japan, others are simply intrigued by the musical experience of taiko. Members practice on their own throughout the week, then come together on Saturdays to practice as a group and refine their performance.

“Our group is really not a traditional taiko group. Traditionally, there is, they call it Sensei, that is one person that teaches everybody in the group,” said Taeko. “In our songs, I am teaching it but in the arrangement process, everybody's inputs are in there. Everybody's participating in finalizing the song.”

Temple fire

Sangha Taiko holds their weekly practice at the Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Temple, and they also store their drums in the basement of the building.

In July 2022, the group performed for the Star 4th of July parade. They had brought out a handful of drums for this performance and all the rest were in the basement of the temple.

The day after the performance, an electrical fire sent the building up in flames. The fire department did their best to save the drums, carrying the heavy instruments up steep stairs out of the basement, but 13 of the group's drums were damaged beyond repair either by flames, water, or asbestos that was in the building. For a small group like Sangha Taiko, the loss was devastating.

The few drums that sustained minimal damage still had to be repaired. The process to re-hide a taiko drum takes months, if not a full year. The same is true for ordering a new taiko drum because they are made to order.

“We knew we were not getting the equipment for a long time. So we did the GoFundMe and… you just cannot believe what came out of the community,” said Taeko. People across the Treasure Valley began to contact them offering taiko drums that had been sitting in their garage and others donated money to help raise funds to replace the 13 lost drums, which each cost about $2,000. In total, community members donated $11,463 to help Sangha Taiko.

Hibiki (Resonance)

On April 12, Sangha Taiko will perform Hibiki (Resonance) at Boise State in the Special Events Center. The show has been in the works for two years and it’s the group’s first 90-minute theater performance.

Sangha Taiko’s performance features 10 songs. Throughout the performance the group will be joined by Ki Daiko (Boise State’s student taiko drumming group), two local vocalists, a Boise State instructor playing the Handpan Drum, and a local gourd artist who makes and plays Native American style flutes, thunderdrums and rainsticks.

There will be two performances of Hibiki (Resonance) on April 12: one at 2pm and another at 7pm. Tickets are $10, or free for BSU students and kids under age 8. You can get tickets here and learn more about Sangha Taiko here.

Thanks for reading!

With love from Boise,

Marissa

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