Group History#
Kita no Taiko is an Edmonton-based Japanese Drumming group, formed in 1986. We are the oldest group in Alberta. In 1985, Katari Taiko was engaged by the local Japanese community group (EJCA; Edmonton Japanese Community Association) to come to Edmonton to perform and provide a workshop. After this workshop, 6 people from the initial 15 interested people formed KNT with a passion to play Japanese drums. In the early days, practice consisted of playing on spare tires and homemade drums.
We have enjoyed a long partnership with the EJCA and also with Argyll Community League in 1994, when EJCA moved into the Argyll Community League building, with KNT coming along. For many years, we performed across the prairies and into the interior of BC. We are happy that there are now taiko groups in these areas, and we do not travel as much. We incorporated as a non profit society in 1989. Over the years, we have grown into a performance group and have been honoured to participate in annual festivals, on major stages, and in collaboration with many kinds of performing groups. We have been thankful to have had the opportunity to travel to Japan twice as a group and study with masters, and to attend conferences such as the North American Taiko Conference where we learn from a range of teachers from around the world.
Founding Inspiration#
After the first taiko workshop in Alberta with Katari Taiko, there was a meeting of about 15 interested people within the Edmonton community. They formed what would be the first core group of Kita no Taiko. They didn’t think too far into the future what the results of their initial efforts would be, they simply wanted to play. Since that time and to the present day, Kita no Taiko is proud to present and maintain this aspect of Japanese Culture as it is experienced in our local community. We are inspired to continue to learn about and share our artform, and steward creative and collaborative approaches to it, uplifting cultural arts in Edmonton.
Notable History#
- Edmonton Symphony
- Calgary Philharmonic
- Ki
- Heritage Festivals
- Taiko Ten
Future Goals and Values#
Connection and community building with other Canadian groups, stewardship and growth of Canadian taiko, potential gathering or travel program.
Performance Material Sources#
In our early years (early 90’s), we sourced music from Koki Suzuki and then from Yoko and Yoshikazu Fujimoto when they visited Edmonton. We perform common open source pieces such as Matsuri and Renshu, and modern open source pieces like Dokokara. Some of our members have also produced original material unique to KNT.
