Sat, March 6th Convergence:Kenny Endo (Maui)

7:30 pmMaui Arts and Cultural Center, Castle Theater

"Kenny Endo’s name long has been synonymous with the rhythmic artistry of taiko." — Honolulu Adveriser

A retrospective of selected contemporary taiko compositions composed by internationally renown taiko master Kenny Endo. A leading spirit in traditional Japanese drumming, Endo believes in using tradition as a basis for innovative collaborations and improvisations. Joining Endo will be an ensemble of master musicians who reflect the East meets West synthesis of his music: Kiyohiko Semba, percussionist; Kaori Takahashi, electric violin; Kaoru Watanabe, bamboo flute and Miho Morinoue, dancer/choreographer.

Tickets: $12, $25, $32 One Cameron Way Kahului, HI 96732 Phone: 808-242-2787 Fax: 808-242-4665 Box Office: 808-242-7469 Email: info@mauiarts.org

Sat, March 13 Convergence: Kenny Endo

Leeward Community College Theatre8 pm $25 Adults $21 Students, Seniors (60+), Military $15 Twelve Years Old & Under 96-045 Ala Ike, Pearl City, Hawaii 96782 Box Office: 455-0385 Eticket Hawaii Hotline 944-2697

Mon, March 15, 22 Adam Rudolph's Go: Organic Orchestra

8 pm Roulette 20 Greene St New York, NY

CANCELLED!! Feb 26th NakaNaka presents: Breathing Over Time and Space

Tonight's NAKANAKA presents: Breathing Over Time and Space has been cancelled due to the snow... We will be doing the show at a later date.

Improvisations by Robert Dick, Sara Schoenbeck and Kaoru Watanabe. Flutes of many types, taiko and bassoon fuse cultures and epochs.

NakaNaka celebrates it's first year of incredible performances and events, by such artists as KODO, On Ensemble, Ned Rothenberg, Miles Okazaki, Masuo Yoshiaki, Adam Rudolph and more. For this special event, curator Kaoru Watanabe has invited the acclaimed flute innovator Robert Dick and the extraordinary bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck for a gorgeous mélange of eastern and western instruments.

9 to 11 pm $10 in advance $12 at the door dromnyc.com 212-777-1157 85 Ave A (btwn 5th and 6th)

ROBERT DICK - soprano, alto, bass flutes, piccolo www.robertdick.com

With equally deep roots in classical music old and new and in free improvisation and new jazz, Robert Dick has established himself as an artist who has not only mastered, but redefined the flute. Known worldwide for creating revolutionary visions of the flute's musical role, listening to Robert Dick play solo has been likened to the experience of hearing a full orchestra. His performances typically include flute (with his invention, the Glissando Headjoint®)piccolo, alto flute, and bass flutes in C and F. On special occasions, he'll bring out the giant, stand-up contrabass flute.

Dick lives in New York City and is on the faculty of New York University. He holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.M. in composition from the Yale School of Music.

As a composer in the classical world, Robert Dick is one of only two Americans ever to be awarded both Composers Fellowships (twice) and a Solo Recitalist Grant by the N.E.A. He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and commissions from the Jerome Foundation, Fromm Music Foundation, Mary Flagler Cary Trust, the city of Zurich, the Philharmonie in Cologne and many more.

As an improvisor, Dick has performed and recorded with New Winds, Tambastics, Oscura Luminosa, the Soldier String Quartet, the A.D.D. Trio, Paul Giger and Satoshi Takeishi, Jaron Lanier, Randy Raine-Reush and Barry Guy, Mari Kimura, Steve Gorn and many more of Europe and America's finest improvisors. Over three decades of collaboration, musicians he has worked with include Steve Lacy, George Lewis, Georg Gräwe, Evan Parker, Malcolm Goldstein, Shelley Hirsch, Jöelle Leandre and John Zorn.

SARA SCHOENBECK - bassoon www.myspace.com/saraschoenbeck

Sara Schoenbeck is a bassoonist who dedicates herself to expanding the sound and role of the bassoon in the worlds of contemporary notated and improvised music. The Wire places her in the “tiny club of bassoon pioneers” at work in contemporary music today and the New York Times has called her “riveting, mixing textural experiments with a big, confident sound.” From being a member of creative music ensembles, like Wayne Horvitz’s Gravitas Quartet, Anthony Braxton’s 12+1tet and Vinny Golia’s Large Ensemble to backing Mos Def in Dakah hip hop orchestra and backing Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder in the Mancini Orchestra, Sara continues to defy categorization as an artist. She has also also shared the stage in improvised music performances with Yusef Lateef, Fred Frith, John Butcher, Mark Dresser, Pauline Oliveros, Wadada Leo Smith and Nels Cline among many others. A recent transplant from Los Angeles, she spent a portion of her time there recording and also as adjunct faculty at California Institute of the Arts. Feature films she has worked on include the Matrix Trilogy, Spanglish and Dahmer. She performs regularly at jazz festivals and venues throughout North America and Europe, notably the Du Maurier Jazz Festival in Vancouver, B.C., the Improvised Music Fest in Antwerp, Belgium and the Berlin Jazz Festival. Sara has received grants from Meet the Composer and the Durfee foundation for outreach work and composition.

Feb Activities

Feb 6 Ortine Cafe- duo with Nori NaraokaFeb 9 Princeton Performance- KATACHI Feb 13 Nakanaka with James Schlefer Feb 20 Bella Gaia at the Vanderbilt Planetarium in Long Island Feb 24 with Chris Dingman at the Brooklyn Lyceum Feb 26 NakaNaka with Robert Dick/Sara Shoenbeck/Kaoru Watanabe

see below for details!

Friday, Feb 13th NakaNaka with Jim Schlefer and Nobuko Miyazaki

NakaNaka presents: Bamboo Madness

James Schlefer (shakuhachi) and Kaoru Watanabe (shinobue and taiko) Two of NYC most dynamic performers of Japanese flutes team up for an evening of bamboo madness with guest Nobuko Miyazaki (shinobue)

DROM 85 Ave A (between 5th and 6th st) New York, NY $10 in advance $12 at the door dromnyc.com 9 to 11 pm

James Nyoraku Schlefer is a leading performer and teacher of shakuhachi in New York City. In addition to performing and lecturing on traditional Japanese shakuhachi music, Schlefer performs contemporary music for the instrument and is an active composer. In the US he has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, Tanglewood, the Metropolitan, Brooklyn and Philadelphia Museums, and has toured internationally in Europe, Asia and South America. Schlefer has four solo recordings, Wind Heart (which was aboard the Space Station MIR for over one year) Solstice Spirit, Flare Up, and In The Moment, and his music was featured on NPR's All Things Considered. He received the Dai-Shi-Han (Grand Master's Certificate) in 2001, and in 2007, he received a second Shi-Han license, from Kurahashi Yodo’s Mujuan Dojo in Kyoto. In Japan he has also studied with Aoki Reibo, Yokoyama Katsuya, Yoshinobu Taniguchi, and Mitsuhashi Kifu. He holds a Master's degree in music from Queens College and is on the CUNY faculty where he teaches courses in Classical Music, World Music and Jazz. James is the Japanese Music Curator for the Arts at Tenri in NYC, presenting four concerts annually of traditional and contemporary music for Japanese instruments, and for ensembles of mixed Japanese and Western instruments. www.nyoraku.com

For almost 800 years, the haunting melodies of the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) were the exclusive domain of Fuke Buddhist monks of the Samurai class. Playing and teaching this music was highly restricted – it belonged to the Buddhist temples of old Japan and the Zen pursuit of the one perfect sound that would bring enlightenment. Today, centuries later, thousands of miles from its origin and following an unbroken line of transmission, American Grand Master James Nyoraku Schlefer brings this timeless music to a contemporary temple of music - DROM.

Feb 24th Chris Dingman

Feb 24with Chris Dingman's group 8:30 PM $10 10 PM $10 with Mark Small, Aidan Carroll and Tommy Crane.

The Brooklyn Lyceum 227 4th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11215 PHONE: 718.857.4816

Sat Feb 6th duo jazz@Ortine Cafe

Sat Feb. 6th I'll be playing some intimate duos with bass player Nori Naraoka at a neighborhood cafe Ortine.  Please come down for some warm food and drinks!

Starting around 8 pm free!

Ortine Cafe 622 Washington Ave Brooklyn, NY 11238 718-622-0026

Feb 9th Princeton University Performance

4:30 to 6 pm Location: Whitman College Auditorium Sponsor: Department of Music Department of East Asian Studies Charge: Free

KATACHI: The Shape of Sounds in Silence

Formerly of the internationally acclaimed Japanese taiko drum ensemble KODO, Kaoru Watanabe will be presenting a concert of music for Japanese taiko and bamboo flutes. Repertoire will range from arrangements of traditional hougagku (classical) and minzoku geino (folk) pieces to contemporary compositions and jazz influenced improvisations. He will be joined by Barbara Merjan, a percussionist active in the New York freelance scene who has been performing and studying taiko for five years.

January 29th Taiko Workshop and performance@DROM

Jan 29th (fri) NakaNaka 2010 KAISHI@DROM 5 to 7 pm TAIKO WORKSHOP – open to all ages and levels 7:30 to 9:30 TAIKO PERFORMANCE featuring students of the Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center $35 for workshop and concert $10 for concert only DROM 85 Ave A (btwn 5th and 6th) 212-777-1157 NYC

KWTC page

I have updated info on the Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center (KWTC) as well as added paypal links so that you may make a tax-deductible donation to the center. Please look for the KWTC page on this website. Thank you so much for those of you who have already supported us so far!

Jan 29th (fri) NakaNaka KAISHI

2010 has already been intense for so many of us in so many ways. Myself included, many friends and family are going through large changes in their personal lives. And of course my heart goes out to all the people of Haiti everywhere. It's been an emotionally wrenching experience following newspaper, radio and television reports and hearing from friends the status of their loved ones.

With this in mind, we must try to make 2010 as positive as we can where we are in our own lives, while never forgetting the suffering of those around us. The first NakaNaka event of the year will be a taiko workshop followed by a performance featuring students of my taiko school and myself. Taiko can be a physically intense art form, so please expect to be exploring movement as much as rhythm with exercises that adults and children alike will find challenging, stimulating and somehow... relaxing all at once.

Jan 29th (fri) NakaNaka 2010 KAISHI@DROM 5 to 7 pm TAIKO WORKSHOP - open to all ages and levels 7:30 to 9:30 TAIKO PERFORMANCE featuring students of the Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center $35 for workshop and concert $10 for concert only

DROM 85 Ave A (btwn 5th and 6th) 212-777-1157 NYC

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Jan 16th Performance at the American Natural History Museum

Voices of the Silk Road Saturday January 16 12–5 pm Kaufmann and Linder Theaters, first floor Grand Gallery and other Halls Free with Museum admission

In conjunction with the new exhibition Traveling the Silk Road, this weekend program will explore the cultures along the Silk Road through performances, workshops, and conversations. Julian Kytasty, Ukranian bandurist, and Kaoru Watanabe on the fue will perform string, voice, and flute pieces influenced by the Silk Road. They will be joined by Krygyz traditional musician Kudabay Avyshov, who plays a flute used to herd sheep; Tibetan folk singer Jampan Youdin; and Uzbek singer Muhabat Shamayeva, who will perform Bukharan Jewish music.

http://www.amnh.org/programs/programs.php?date=2010-01-16&event_id=1542

FRANCO IMPERIAL workshop at KWTC

Hello friends,

This coming Sunday the 10th, a friend Franco Imperial from San Jose Taiko will be teaching a workshop at the KWTC from 4 to 6 pm.  San Jose Taiko is one of the oldest and most established taiko groups (est 1973) in North America.  Franco is one of the leading figures in the group and has offered to work on anything "from relaxation to grooving to chops exercises on small or large drum". Please visit SJT's website to see what they are about at www.taiko.org

If you would like to come, please RSVP with "Franco workshop" as the subject and please write if you have requests for what kind of workshop.  The fee for this workshop will be $35 for everyone.

Bella Gaia as part of APAP January 9th

As part of Earthsync's presence at the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Conference (APAP) taking over New York, BELLA GAIA will be performed in its Ensemble version, with the following world class artists:

Kenji Williams - Violin Kaoru Watanabe - Fue, Flute, Taiko Lale Sayoko - Oriental Dance Tamango Vancayseele - Spoken Word Yumi Kurosawa - Koto Brahim Fribgane - Oud & Percussion Patrick Graham - Percussion

BELLA GAIA starts at 7pm , followed by shows by Katrick & Gotam, Smadar Levi Saturday 9th January 2010 Drom, 85 Ave A (b/w 5th & 6th). Lower East Side, NYC Tel.: (212) 777 1157 www.dromnyc.com 6:00PM Doors open Entry $10 in advance, $15 at the door Free entry with APAP badge

Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center Update

Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu! Happy New Year!

Kotoshi mo Yoroshiku Onegai shimasu. Here's to another year of working together!

2009 brought us many wonderful things: a couple ha-pyoukai, a new children's class, many great guest workshop leaders- Yoshikazu and Yoko Fujimoto (from Kodo), Ryouta Kataoka (a blind professional taiko player), Takumi Kato (All Japan Odaiko champion), Tetsuro Naito (formerly of Kodo), Kenny Endo, Shoji Kameda (On Ensemble), Tamango (tap dancer) as well as great insight and dedication by drill leaders Barbara, Alice and Malika. Over the year we've had many new students and friends as well as the occasional out-of-towner or upper-west-sider who can't make it out to Brooklyn on a regular basis.

I also saw great growth in many students- people really developing stronger form, power and conviction, a deeper understanding of rhythm and understanding of the music and culture where the music is from. For 2010, we plan on: having even more guest instructors, more focus on repertoire and performance technique, get more drums, improve on equipment and the facilities, offer more types of classes. Also, we now have fiscal sponsorship, meaning we will be able to apply for grants and receive tax deductible donations. In other words, as the school grows, the potential for the students to grow increases and vice versa.

In order to support these new activities, starting February 1st 2010, there will be an annual $20 fee to be a member of KWTC. Members are offered discounted rates to take taiko classes/guest workshops, admission to various performances, to receive the weekly e-update with new rhythms, class reviews, video links and clips, etc as well as receive a KWTC t-shirt. College student discount available.

Fee list KWTC member annual fee $20 first time trial class (for non-members) $20 single class (for member) $30 single class (non member) $35 10 class package adult $250 10 class package children $130 guest workshop fee for members $30 guest workshop for non members $40 t-shirt (adult and children) $15 bachi $10

KWTC SCHEDULE Jan 3rd (sun) 4 to 6 pm intermediate; 6 to 8 pm intermediate (repertoire class) Jan 6th (wed) 4:00- 5:00 pm Children's class, 6 to 8 pm fundamentals class Jan 10 (sun) 4 to 6 pm intermediate; 6 to 8 pm intermediate (repertoire class) Jan 13 (wed) 4:00- 5:00 pm Children's class, 6 to 8 pm fundamentals class Jan 17 (sun) 4 to 6 pm intermediate; 6 to 8 pm intermediate (repertoire class) Jan 20 (wed) 4:00- 5:00 pm Children's class, 6 to 8 pm fundamentals class Jan 24 (sun) 4 to 6 pm intermediate; 6 to 8 pm intermediate (repertoire class) Jan 27 (wed) 4:00- 5:00 pm Children's class, 6 to 8 pm fundamentals class Jan 31 (sun) 4 to 6 pm intermediate; 6 to 8 pm intermediate (repertoire class)

Where: Renate Albertsen-Marton Gallery - The Village@Gureje (enter through the clothing boutique) 886 Pacific Street Brooklyn, NY 11238 (Btw. Underhill Ave and Washington Aves in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn) C or G to Clinton Washington, or 2,3,4,5,B,D,N,Q,R,W to Atlantic Ave./Pacific St. To call for directions: 718 857 2522 $30 per class, $250 for 10 classes $15 for one children's class, $130 for 10 classes $20 for 1st trial class Please note: these fees apply whether I am teaching or not.

Greetings from San Francisco

I've been spending wonderful quality time with family and friends and doing lots of holiday eating. A belated thank you so much for those of you who came to my two Bo-NenKai last week- Bella Gaia at Drom, where Shanir, Lale, Bala, Tomas, Yumi and Kenji amazing, as well as the party we had at the KW Taiko Center, where everybody contributed greatly with food, drinks, their drumming and their energy. Please click here for a slide show of photos taken by Dan Ichimoto.

DECEMBER ACTIVITIES

I hope everyone is staying warm and dry as we head into that joyously unpleasant New York winter. First of all, thanks to so many of you out there who helped me in my search for a new place. Just moved in to a new place in Prospect Heights. Expect a housewarming party in the coming months. In the meantime, I have a few performances coming up. It would be wonderful to see you all before the year's end! Please scroll down to see more info about each.

TONIGHT! Dec 5th 8 pm Alicia Hall Moran + Gordon Voidwell The Kitchen 512 W 19th st (btwn 10th and 11th ave) http://www.thekitchen.org

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Dec 6th Special taiko workshop in Manhattan! 2 to 4 pm @DROM $20 per person (for first time participants) $5 pair of bachi (sticks) $15 Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center t-shirt

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Dec 9th 10:30 pm NakaNaka presenst: Sanble* DROM 85 Avenue A New York, NY 10009 www.dromnyc.com $10 in advance, $12 at the door

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Dec 12th 8:00pm with On Ensemble in Los Angeles December 12, 2009, The Miles Memorial Playhouse 1130 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90403

Tickets: $25 available online at: Brown Paper Tickets or by phone at: 1-800-838-3006

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Dec 18th (fri) NakaNaka presents: BoNenKai! performance / Bella Gaia Live ensemble DROM (see above) 7:00 doors open 7:30 pm BoNenKai Performance! featuring Kaoru Watanabe, Tomas Fujiwara and members of the Bella Gaia Ensemble 8:00 pm BELLA GAIA Live Ensemble - "A Poetic Vision of Earth from Space"

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Dec 20 (sun) 6 pm Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center: BO-NENKAI FREE!! but please RSVP Renate Albertsen-Marton Gallery - The Village@Gureje (enter through the clothing boutique) 886 Pacific Street Brooklyn, NY 11238 (Btw. Underhill Ave and Washington Aves in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn) C or G to Clinton Washington, or 2,3,4,5,B,D,N,Q,R,W to Atlantic Ave./Pacific St. To call for directions: 718 857 2522

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ROOMMATE SEARCH finally, I'm looking for someone to move into my old room in Williamsburg: Withers St., 2nd floor walkup (there is 1 apartment on each floor), a 6 minute walk from the Graham stop off the L (3rd stop into Brooklyn). It takes about half an hour to get to midtown from here, 15 to the east village 2 roommates two female, non-smokers $750 rent (with $750 deposit) Utilities are gas & electric and high speed internet, and come out to around $50-$60 a month The kitchen, living room, and bathroom are all very clean There is a dry cleaner/laundromat on one corner and a cute new cafe on the other one. Grocery stores, video rental, and lots of restaurants, vintage stores, and a boutique are all a few blocks away Available Dec 15th (1/2 month's rent for December), but we are also open to a new roommate moving in January 1 Showing now!

last minute appearance as part of On Ensemble Presents: Works In Progress ’09

On Ensemble Presents: Works In Progress ’09 A concert of all new works featuring Russel Baba and Jeanne Mercer

Witness the debut of On Ensemble music! New instruments join the On Ensemble mix, including gamelan gongs and home-made electronic drums, in never-before-seen compositions by each of the group’s members. Artistic risk-taking and experimentation lead the way in On Ensemble’s most important performance of the year. With special guests Russel Baba and Jeanne Mercer (Maz and Shoji’s first teachers) of Shasta Taiko and David Wells!

December 12, 2009, 8:00pm The Miles Memorial Playhouse 1130 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90403

Tickets: $25 available online at: Brown Paper Tickets or by phone at: 1-800-838-3006

NakaNaka presents: BoNenKai! performance / Bella Gaia Live ensemble

Dec 18th (fri)DROM 7:00 doors open 7:30 pm BoNenKai Performance! featuring Kaoru Watanabe, Tomas Fujiwara and members of the Bella Gaia Ensemble 8:00 pm BELLA GAIA Live Ensemble - "A Poetic Vision of Earth from Space"

Come celebrate the closing of 2009, NakaNaka style. Kaoru will be leading an ensemble of musician friends in a joyous celebration of a year's worth of laughter and pain, love and hate, and the spiraling nosedive of the world's economy, featuring the sounds of taiko drums, the koto, and a wide assortment of western and other eastern instruments.

Following BoNenKai! will be a special screening of BELLA GAIA (Beautiful Earth). This extraordinary film successfully simulates space flight, is a 'Living Atlas' multimedia journey of our world, and expresses the deeply moving beauty of planet Earth as seen through the eyes of astronauts. Created by award winning director and classically trained violinist Kenji Williams, and in collaboration with NASA, BELLA GAIA(TM) features live performances by Williams and such musicians as Kaoru (flutes and taiko), Yumi Kurosawa (koto), Shanir Blumenkrantz (bass, oud), Lale Sayoko (belly dance) and A.R. Balaskandan (mridangam, kanjira and violin) against a large-screen backdrop of orbiting visualizations of Earth from space.

more info and clips of this amazing film here: bellagaia.com