English
About Kaoru
SHORT BIO
Acclaimed composer and instrumentalist Kaoru Watanabe's work is grounded in traditional Japanese music while imbued with contemporary jazz, improvisation, and experimental music elements. His signature skill of infusing Japanese culture with disparate styles on the shinobue flutes and taiko and other Japanese percussion has made him a much-in-demand collaborator working with such iconic artists as André 3000, Yo-Yo Ma, Wes Anderson, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Laurie Anderson, Jason Moran, Japanese National Living Treasure Bando Tamasaburo, and Rhiannon Giddens. A trained jazz musician, he lived in Japan for a decade, during which time he became the first American to become a performer and artistic director of the iconic taiko drumming ensemble Kodo. He is featured on Grammy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated recordings.
LONG BIO
Acclaimed composer and instrumentalist Kaoru Watanabe's work is grounded in traditional Japanese music while imbued with contemporary jazz, improvisation, and experimental music elements. His signature skill of infusing Japanese culture with disparate styles on the shinobue flutes and taiko and other Japanese percussion has made him a much-in-demand collaborator working with such iconic artists as André 3000, Wes Anderson, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Laurie Anderson, Jason Moran, Yo-Yo Ma, Japanese National Living Treasure Bando Tamasaburo and Rhiannon Giddens.
Born to Japanese parents who were long-time St Louis Symphony Orchestra members, Watanabe began training at a young age, eventually graduating from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied Black American jazz music. He then moved to Japan and became the first American to perform with and lead the internationally acclaimed taiko performing arts group Kodo. Acting as Artistic Director of Kodo's Earth Celebration festival, inviting such artists as Zakir Hussain, Giovanni Hidalgo, and other masters of music from across the globe, he first saw how profound cross-cultural collaboration could be: people who don’t share a common language can find ways to unite in musical conversation when done with a sense of mutual respect, open-mindedness, an open heart, and a desire to connect. In 2008, after ten transformative years in Japan, which left him deeply connected to his heritage and the land from which his parents came, he left Kodo. He returned to New York to weave together all the musical threads of his experiences.
Watanabe’s compositions draw lines between distant points—Japan and America, ancient history and modern politics, and Eastern and Western music. Looking for the sympathetic vibrations that emerge, he weaves together Buddhist chants reimagined as antipolice brutality protests, WWII-era ZERO kamikaze fighter planes, the Sengoku Civil War era, and the culture wars of today’s America. In his work, Watanabe introduces sounds from a distant past to the 21st century, expressing the many layers of his identity and culture.
He acted as an advisor and was a featured musician on Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs, and he is featured on the Silkroad Ensemble’s Grammy Award-winning album Sing Me Home. He also created music for Martin Scorcese’s Silence and Netflix’s Ultraman: Rising, and perhaps his greatest accomplishment was providing the jazz flute stylings of the Pied Piper in Shrek 4ever After.
As an educator, Watanabe has taught courses at Princeton, Wesleyan, and Boston Conservatory and was an artist-in-residence at Loyola University. He has taught workshops across North and South America, Europe, and East and Southwest Asia.
Watanabe’s drums are provided by Miyamoto Unosuke Shoten, a mikoshi shrine and traditional instrument maker founded in 1861. His flutes are provided by Ranjo, a master craftsman based in Chiba Prefecture who makes instruments for many of the top musicians in Japan. One of the highest honors of Watanabe’s life is when Ranjo declared, “Watanabe possesses the greatest sound on the shinobue in the world.”
“I have long felt that Kaoru Watanabe has the greatest sound on the shinobue of any player in the world. ”
“Kaoru Watanabe: a rare musician who traverses the traditional music forms both East and West, classical and contemporary, predetermined and improvisational. His expertise in taiko drumming and bamboo flutes gives his music both force with exteme delicacy. His superb musicianship makes him a joy to create with. He enriches any musical situation with his unique perspective.”
Selected Activities
2023
Duo with Laurie Anderson at the Baryshnikov at 75 concert at Kaatsbaan Arts Center, with Regina Spektor, Diana Krall, and others
Artistic Lead, composer and performer- American Railroad tour with Rhiannon Giddens and Silkroad Ensemble
Artist in Residence - Loyola University Chicago - one semester-long course on Japanese traditional and contemporary performing arts, worked with the jazz and percussion ensembles and the choir.
Asia Society of Texas presentation of Genji with members of the Houston Ballet
Solo Performance at Yokohama Osanbashi Hall
Japan Society New York presentation of Extinction Ritual with Leimay Dance Company
Soloist and composer with the Groton Hill Orchestra
Silkroad Train Station Trio performances with Maeve Gilchrist, Kinan Azmeh and others
Netflix’s Ultraman Rising movie soundtrack recording in Tokyo, consultant, performer
2022
Kaoru Watanabe’s Incense at Dartmouth College, Lincoln Center
Tour with Kenny Endo (10 cities including Kennedy Center, Oberlin College, UMass Amherst, etc)
Duo with LaTasha Nevada Diggs at Joe’s Pub
Silkroad and Rhiannon Giddens Tour (multiple Cities including Tanglewood, Wolftrap, NJPAC, etc.) with special guest Yo-Yo Ma
2021
Alyson Shotz, Nasheet Waits at Carrie Mae Weems's Land of Broken Dreams at the Park Avenue Armory
Silkroad with Rhiannon Giddens, Harvard University
Kaoru Watanabe’s Incense at Joe’s Pub
Laurie Anderson, Jason Moran, Vernon Reid Party at the Bardo at Park Avenue Armory
Kaoru Watanabe Oto Ga Tatsu with Wu Man, Yuta Sumiyoshi from Kodo, Tamangoh, Semba Kiyohiko (online)
2020
Eva Yerbuena Cuentos de Azucar in Paris
Adam Rudolph Field and Focus at Roulette
Edward Perez, Kaoru Watanabe duo Tanglewood Music Festival (online)
Kaoru Watanabe Haruka and Akira (online)
composition Merge inducted into the archives of the Library of Congress
Yo-Yo Ma and Silkroad Ensemble Asia tour (canceled due to COVID)
Musical Director of True Colors Concert with artistic director Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (canceled due to COVID)
Mikhail Baryshnikov’s Yokihi (canceled due to COVID)
2019
Eva Yerbuena Cuentos de Azucar in Granada, Cordoba, Brussels, Sevilla, Zaragoza, etc
Yo-Yo Ma and Silkroad in Beirut
Tamangoh’s Samurai Noir in French Guiana
Michi Wianko’s Murasaki’s Moon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Silkroad’s Heroes Take Their Stands US Tour
Kaoru Watanabe with Maeve Gilchrist and Satoshi Takeishi US Tour
Imani Uzuri Hush Arbor Lincoln Center
BOROGUSAKAGU trio with Rogerio Bocatto and Sameer Gupta
2018
Eva Yerbuena Cuentos de Azucar Tour in Spain and France
Yo-Yo Ma and Silkroad Ensemble Tours in Lebanon and the US
Imani Uzuri Hush Arbor Harlem Stage
Sydney Symphony Orchestra with Taikoz (two orchestral premieres)
Premiere of Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs, performances at the Berlin Film Festival and NY Met Museum
Alicia Hall Moran’s Breaking Ice, ice skating opera singers, taiko drummer in ice rinks
2007-2017
Various performances with Alicia Hall Moran, Damion Reid, Kenny Endo, Marvin Sewell, Brooklyn Raga Massive, Kakunuma Koji, Tamangoh, Semba Kyohiko, Simone Leigh, Jen Shyu, So Percussion, and Kodo. Tours in Japan, US, France, Germany, Barbados, French Guiana, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Mongolia, Canada, Brazil, etc.
2000-2007
KODO One Earth Tour in Asia, Europe, and the US. Approximately a total of eight months of the year on tour. Highlights include Carnegie Hall, the Barbican, Red Rocks Amphitheater, NY Summerstage, and Minamiza with Tamasaburo Bando. Albums released: Mondo Head (produced by Mickey Hart), Prism Rhythm, and One Earth Tour Special.
2005-2007
Artistic Director of KODO’s Earth Celebration, an annual world-music festival inviting international guest artists to collaborate with Kodo. Determined concept, programming, personnel, stage design, and lighting concept. Guests include Carlos Nunez, Zakir Hussain, Giovanni Hildalgo, Yamashita Yosuke, Koji Kakinuma.
1998
Stefon Harris Cloud of Red Dust Blue Note records featuring Mulgrew Miller, Steve Turre, Greg Osby, and Jason Moran
Teaching Experience
Silkroad’s Global Musician Workshop, DePauw University, Faculty
Tanglewood Music Festival, faculty
Princeton University, rotating guest lecturer
KaDON Online resource, instructor
Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center, founder, instructor - Brooklyn, NY
Wesleyan University, instructor, Japanese Taiko – Spring 2011 to 2013
Dickinson College, instructor, Japanese Taiko- Fall 2012
Colby College, instructor, Japanese Taiko - Winter 2011
Education
Kodo Cultural Foundation - apprentice 1998-2000, Sado Island, Japan. Studies include various Japanese folk dances, song and drumming, tea ceremonies, farming, woodworking, Noh Theater, and Kyogen Theater.
Manhattan School of Music New York, NY, BA in Jazz Performance 1993-1997
Interlochen Arts Academy 1991-1992