June 16th (Tues) 7:30 pm Performance with Kaoru Watanabe and NeO@ShapeShifter Lab

Yuu Ishizuka is one of the top taiko drum soloists based in Tokyo and comes from a family of elite traditional and contemporary Japanese musicians. 

From childhood, Yuu learned Nagauta (Japanese long song) music from his father Saburo Mochizuki and the late national living treasure, Bokusei Mochizuki IV, the head of the Mochizuki school of hogaku hayashi (Japanese classical drumming). Yuu learned the Sukeroku style of taiko drumming as a member of "Hatoyama Koin-no-Kai." At age 18, he became a professional performer and instructor of Oedo Sukeroku, one of the top professional taiko groups in Tokyo. Yuu became an independent solo Taiko artist in 2009 and performs with artists of various genre.

The performance at Shapeshifter will feature Yuu in collaboration with Kaoru, Fumi Tanakadate and Sayun Chang and shamisen player Sumie Kaneko.  

Official Website: http://www.yuuishizuka.com/