Wadaiko Rindo Melbourne Australia

Concerts

Every year in December the Wadaiko Rindo taiko classes hold an annual concert. Eight lessons a term, four terms a year – a total of 32 lessons for the beginner, intermediate and advanced classes are held, and the results of these are on display at these concerts. During the early years the finale was performed by the whole school but as there are too many students and not enough taiko drums, the students left without a drum take part in the dancing. The 10th year anniversary concert in 2005 put together a medley of past taiko pieces to commemorate the Wadaiko Rindo classes that started in 1996.

Concert 11, 2008: Saturday 13 & Sunday 14 December, Performing Arts Centre, Our Lady of Mercy College, Heidelberg
(The Taiko Master)
This year's concert took on a dramatic approach, resulting in the "Taiko Master". It showcased Steven playing a comic role of a Taiko Master instructing a taiko class. The master is very loud and proud, but he is actually not a very good taiko player.The talents of the Taiko Master's students, played by the Thursday class students, were displayed within this classroom scenario. A surprise ending that revealed a quick flash of "fundoshi" (loincloth) received much audience response.

"The Goblin Forge" saw Melissa enact a goblin, a "Tenaga Onna" (long armed woman), utilizing two black screens and some fun performances from the other two guys Alex and Nick playing the goblins (or parts thereof).

The audience was also treated to the first performance by "FueFukuro", a "shinobue" (Japanese bamboo flute) ensemble. Enchanted by Tao's performance, the players formed the group and performed for this audience an original piece "Hiryu", resplendent in their hand-made costumes.

Guests: Yomei Nakajima (Shakuhachi), Anne Norman (Shakuhachi), Masami Sato Ballet School, Shamys (Tsugaru Shamisen)
Audience numbers: Saturday: about 230, Sunday: about 250

Concert 10, 2007: Friday 7 & Sat 8 December, St Phillips Anglican Church Hall
This time the concerts were held, for the first time, at the practice hall, where a stage was especially installed. The concerts had a more intimate feel because of the minimized distance between the performers and the audience.

The three shows consisted of the same pieces being performed by the different classes, which enabled students to observe and learn from how others played the same pieces. Guests included the Tsugaru Shamisen group Shamys with Noriko Tadano leading, Miya Kato leading the Minyo dancers, and also Shakuhachi player Yomei Nakajima, who flew in all the way from Brisbane for a 2 hour performance.

The performers and audience numbers were as follows:
• Friday 7 Dec, 7pm: Thursday class, audience:120 people
• Saturday 8 Dec, 2pm: Tuesday classes, Saturday intermediate class, children's class, audience: 110 people
• Saturday 8 Dec, 6pm: Monday class, Saturday beginners class, audience: 140 people

Concert 9, 2006: Sat 9 & Sun 10 December, MLC JT Auditorium (Sansa)
Mr Munetaka Umehara, a researcher of traditional Japanese arts, was invited as supervisor, and the training of the 'Iwate Sansa' dance begun in July. It was quite a task getting 40 costumes ready for the performance, as was dressing the Aussie people, it was said! The white Kabuki make-up in the new piece 'Youkai no Kajiba' (The Goblin Forge) scared some children to tears.

Guests: Munetaka Umehara (choreography, Japanese flute), The Azuki Beanz (song and dance), Shinzo Nozao & Fumihiro Ueoka (calligraphy, painting), Noriko Tadano & The Shamys (Tsugaru Shamisen), Anne Norman (shakuhachi)
Audience: 170 people (approx. day 1), 320 people (approx. day 2)

Concert 8, 2005: Sat 10 & Sun 11 December, MLC JT Auditorium (Mai - Nanchu Soran)
The 10th anniversary of the taiko classes concert. The program was the same over two days, but the first day was a preview. A medley combining the taiko pieces over 10 years was performed. During 'Yatai Bayashi', the lantern holders in the background stood still for an entire 10 minutes of the performance. As 'Nanchu Soran' was performed in the finale, the students danced the 'Bon Odori'. For the first time, slides were used at the end of the show. For this occasion a very special guest, Minyo singer Mr Toyoshige Tadano arrived from Japan.

Guests: Noriko Tadano (Tsugaru Shamisen) & Toyoshige Tadano (Minyo), Masami Sato (ballet, choreography), Shinzo Nozao (calligraphy), Anne Norman (shakuhachi)
Audience: 30 people (approx. day 1), 390 people (approx. day 2)

Concert 7, 2004: Sat 11 & Sun 12 December, Union Theatre (Getap)
A humorous piece composed at the Taiko camp, 'Athens Olympics', combined sports-event choreography within the taiko piece, and received much laughter and applause from the audience. 'Getap', a piece that won Melbourne Fringe Festival's music prize, was re-performed. For the first time, the students numbering close to 70, were split into two groups and performed two different programs over two days. The finale was the now standard 'Umi Medley'.

Guests: Yukiko Kikuto (koto), Amanda Fairs (flute), Anne Norman (shakuhachi)

Audience: 150 people (approx. day1), 230 people (approx. day 2).

Concert 6, 2003: Sat 13 December, Union Theatre (CC Taiso)
Brisbane taiko player Motoyuki Niwa performed a dynamic solo piece. Accompanying the piece 'Kokuryu' was a large hand crafted dragon made by students. The audience was somewhat dumbfounded by a strange piece called 'CC Taiso', but the people on stage enjoyed performing the dance. The finale was 'Akebono '03'.

Guest: Motoyuki Niwa (taiko), Yukiko Kikuto & Co (koto), Academy of Mary Immaculate (dance).
Audience: 270 people (approx).

Concert 5, 2002: Sun 8 December, Melba Hall (Ben-K Rock & Didje)
Concert returns to Melba Hall. A jam with Andrew, a rock drummer and Peter, a didjeridoo player, combined with taiko was a new experiment. 'Takaburi', an energetic student piece, combined juggling and acrobatic movements - there was much appreciative applause when the 'bachi' was thrown high in the air and caught successfully.

Guest: Anne Norman (shakuhachi), Academy of Mary Immaculate (dance), Peter Lamshed (didjeridoo), Andrew Band (drum, guitar, bass guitar)
Audience: 300 people (approx).

Concert 4, 2001: Sat 8 December, Union Theatre (Akebono '01)
To use some effective lighting, the concert moved to Union Theatre. Smoke machines, spotlights and coloured lights were used to decorate the stage, but there were claims that some lights shone too brightly towards the audience. The sound was overtaken by the dramatic theatrics. The finale saw performers perform solos in pairs on centre stage.

Guest: Anne Norman
Audience: 230 people (approx).

Concert 3, 2000: Sun 10 December, Melba Hall (Rindo Soran)
The second time at Melba Hall sees a more relaxed preparation. Costumes ranged from t-shirts to hand made blue and black 'happi' coats. The cute performance by the Waverley Meadows Primary School was a highlight. The finale was a combination of an orthodox 'Soran Bushi' by Anne Norman on Shakuhachi, and an original arrangement by Wadaiko Rindo.

Guests: Anne Norman, Don Don Daiko (Waverley Meadows PS)
Audience: 220 people (approx).

Concert 2, 1999: Sun 10 December, Melba Hall (Irodori)
The first big concert. From performing to families and friends, this was the first step into performing for a general audience. Traditional song 'Soran Bushi' was performed by one of the students, Junko Okita, accompanied by Andrew McGregor's shakuhachi students. The final song 'Yama Kudari' was a combination of Japanese flute, Mark on tronbone, and an unexpected ukulele accompaniment.

Guests: Murasaki Daiko, Andrew McGregor (shakuhachi) & his students
Audience: 150 people (approx).

Concert 1, 1998: Sat 5 December, RSL Hall
The 3rd year marked the first official concert. Performed wearing official T-shirts. Entry was free, but donations collected amounted to $90. The venue had no changing rooms, so the hallway was the makeshift changing room.

Guests: Murasaki Daiko, Andrew McGregor, Anne Norman
Audience: 70 people (approx.)

1997: Fri 17 October, Presbyterian Church
As the previous year, the Rindo Taiko Preservation Group arrived down under and performed together. The Wadaiko Rindo students opened the show.

Audience: 120 people (approx.)

1996 : Sat 16 November, St Johns Church
Joint concert with the Kumamoto Rindo Taiko Conservation Group. There were 2 groups of 8 students, and 2 pieces performed at the opening. As it was their first performance, the students were nervous.

Audience: 180 people (approx.)