YAMATO: The Drummers of Japan bring their high energy performance filled with heart-thumping rhythms and explosive beats.to the Performing Arts Center at Kent State University - Tuscarawas on Tuesday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m.
YAMATO is a Japanese Taiko drumming group based in Asuka-mura Nara Prefecture which is well known by Japanese people as the hometown of Japan. They call themselves “YAMATO, the Taiko drumming group that travels all over the world”. They have given more than 4,000 shows across 54 countries around the world since their formation in 1993.
YAMATO’s Taiko work cannot be fully described by the word “performance”. Their motto is “We go everywhere when somebody needs YAMATO! And bringing energy to the people living in the world! We bring joy to the world.”
On stage, they are standing with more than 40 Taiko drums and all of them are having different characters. For example, their largest drum called “Odaiko”, produced from a huge tree over 400 years old, is approximately two meters in diameter and weighs 500 kg. All other Taiko drums are different sizes and have different sounds. The members of the group have trained their bodies to the limit to beat these massive Taiko drums.
However, they do not simply make their Taiko drums explode with sound; they produce delicate music that provides the listener with a palette of meticulously crafted sound. This is why YAMATO’s original performances are known as “Physical music” and continue to receive high acclaim all over the world. YAMATO is sometimes intense, sometimes sad, sometimes comforting, and in the next moment comical on stage.
The audience will be more than a group of bystanders at their performances. The audience is engulfed in the sound of the Taiko, and sweat, cry, and laugh; they become one with the performers. All types of people gather around the sound of the Taiko, interweaving their lives, and feeling the power of each other’s inner passion and heart.
Tickets for YAMATO: The Drummers of Japan start at $39 and are on sale now at the Performing Arts Center box office, 330-308-6400 or online at www.kent.edu/tuscpac. The box office is open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Performing Arts Center’s 2022-2023 Season is sponsored by the Tuscarawas County Community Foundation.
Free and convenient parking is available for all shows. The Performing Arts Center is located on the campus of Kent State Tuscarawas at 330 University Dr. N.E. in New Philadelphia.