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Mentors and Artists
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With Canada’s long history with taiko, Canadian taiko artists and performers are happy to share their learned lessons. See below for a list of available mentors in Canada’s groups. Connect through their group contacts.

On this page: Mentors by Category  |  Mentors by Performing Group  |  Working Canadian Artists

Mentors by Category
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Practice and Everyday Management
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  • Steve (Ame no Ato): effective practice planning
  • Erez vanHam (Arashido Taiko): general administration
  • Elizabeth Ready (Hinode Taiko): grant writing
  • TL (Midnight Taiko): group management
  • Mila Mendez (RAW Taiko): grant writing
  • Young Park (RAW Taiko): group leadership
  • Esme Friesen (Uminari Taiko): communications
  • Jordy Riley (Uzume Taiko): youth group leadership
  • Bonnie Soon (Uzume Taiko): administration
  • Various (Lethbridge Community Taiko Association): grant writing

Group formation and connections
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  • Steve (Ame no Ato): group dynamics and cohesion
  • Valerie (Ame no Ato): group dynamics and cohesion
  • Shinobu Homma (Chibi Taiko): group formation and development
  • Brenda Joy Lem (Inner Truth Taiko Dojo): community building and solidarity work
  • TL (Midnight Taiko): group formation
  • Gayle Nye (Uminari Taiko): group building

Performance and Workshops
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  • Steve (Ame no Ato): small group performance
  • Valerie (Ame no Ato): small group performance
  • Erez vanHam (Arashido Taiko): workshops
  • Ku Itoi (Canada Miyake Taiko Kai): teaching various traditional taiko styles (Miyake and Chichibu Yataibayashi) in Japanese or English
  • Shinobu Homma (Chibi Taiko): taiko basics
  • Hiroshi Koshiyama (Fubuki Daiko): workshops
  • Naomi Guilbert (Fubuki Daiko): workshops
  • Nick (Hetonick): Performance and workshops
  • Yuko Nozoe (Hinode Taiko): workshops
  • Brenda Joy Lem (Inner Truth Taiko Dojo): workshop (re: long-term playing)
  • Atsuko Yamashita (Katari Taiko): performance
  • Carley Okamura (Kita no Taiko): beginner workshops, taiko fundamentals
  • Marc Vantol (Lethbridge Community Taiko Association): BMus in percussion (can teach and perform in all areas of music)
  • Aki Watanabe (Oto-Wa Taiko): using kuchi shoga for teaching (including how to use Excel spreadsheets to generate written kuchi shoga)
  • Jordy Riley (Uzume Taiko and Chibi Taiko): teaching (especially for youth)
  • Noriko Kobayashi (Vancouver Hachijo Kai): teaching Hachijo Taiko (beginners’ class in Vancouver)

Musical Skills
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  • Erez vanHam (Arashido Taiko): taiko skills
  • Shinobu Homma (Chibi Taiko): taiko basics, composition
  • Hiroshi Koshiyama (Fubuki Daiko): taiko skills, composition
  • Naomi Guilbert (Fubuki Daiko): taiko skills, composition
  • Nick (Hetonick): taiko skills, composition
  • Yuko Nozoe (Hinode Taiko): taiko skills, composition
  • Brenda Joy Lem (Inner Truth Taiko Dojo): taiko skills
  • Marty (Midnight Taiko): taiko skills, composition
  • Young Park (RAW Taiko): taiko skills, composition
  • Boyd Seiichi Grealy (Uzume Taiko): taiko skills, composition, musicianship
  • Gayle Nye (Uminari Taiko): taiko skills
  • Esme Friesen (Uminari Taiko): “Drills and Thrills” workshop
  • Jason Overy (Uzume Taiko): taiko skills, musicianship, sound engineering
  • Jordy Riley (Uzume Taiko and Chibi Taiko): taiko skills
  • Bonnie Soon (Uzume Taiko): taiko skills, choreography

Equipment
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  • Erez vanHam (Arashido Taiko): taiko reskinning
  • Hiroshi Koshiyama (Fubuki Daiko): building taiko
  • Dave Emmond (Hinode Taiko): building taiko
  • Dan Kinoshita and Kevin Kanak (Kita no Taiko): drum repair and reheading
  • Various (Lethbridge Community Taiko Association): drum repair
  • Various (Shachihoko Taiko): building taiko
  • Esme Friesen (Uminari Taiko): building and maintenance of taiko
  • Bonnie Soon (Uzume Taiko): building taiko gear

Various
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  • James Coleman (Hinode Taiko): resource for deaf/hard-of-hearing drumming
  • Brenda Joy Lem (Inner Truth Taiko Dojo): Canadian taiko history (from 1986), ties to the Asian American movement, chi and body alignment for long-term playing
  • Carley Okamura (Kita no Taiko): Japanese Canadian history
  • Aki Watanabe (Oto-Wa Taiko): how to use Excel spreadsheets to generate written kuchi shoga

Mentors by Performing Group
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Ame no Ato
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  • Steve: effective practice planning, group dynamics and cohesion, small group performance
  • Valerie: group dynamics and cohesion, small group performance

Arashido Taiko
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  • Erez vanHam: general administration, workshops, taiko skills, taiko reskinning

Canada Miyake Taiko Kai
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  • Ku Itoi: Teaching various traditional taiko styles (Miyake and Chichibu Yataibayashi) in Japanese or English

Chibi Taiko
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  • Shinobu Homma: group formation and development, taiko basics, composition

Fubuki Daiko
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  • Hiroshi Koshiyama: workshops, taiko skills, composition, building taiko
  • Naomi Guilbert: workshops, taiko skills, composition

Lethbridge Community Taiko Association
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  • Marc Vantol: BMus in percussion (can teach and perform in all areas of music)
  • Various: grant writing, drum repair

Hetonick
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  • Nick: performance and workshops, taiko skills, composition, building taiko

Hinode Taiko
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  • Yuko Nozoe: workshops, taiko skills, composition
  • James Coleman: resource for Deaf/hard-of-hearing drumming
  • Dave Emmond: building taiko
  • Elizabeth Ready: grant writing

Inner Truth Taiko Dojo
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  • Brenda Joy Lem: community building and solidarity work, workshop (re: long-term playing), taiko skills, Canadian taiko history (from 1986), ties to Asian American movement, chi and body alignment for long-term playing

Katari Taiko
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  • Atsuko Yamashita: performance

Kita no Taiko
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  • Carley Okamura: beginner workshops, taiko fundamentals, Japanese Canadian history
  • Dan Kinoshita and Kevin Kanak: drum repair/reheading

Midnight Taiko
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  • Marty: taiko skills, composition
  • TL: group management, group formation

Oto-Wa Taiko
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  • Aki Watanabe: using kuchi shoga for teaching (including how to use Excel spreadsheets to generate written kuchi shoga)

Raiden Taiko
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  • Lance Yamada

RAW Taiko
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  • Mila Mendez: grant writing
  • Young Park: group leadership, taiko skills, composition

Shachihoko Taiko
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  • Various: grant writing, building taiko

Uminari Taiko
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  • Esme Friesen: communications, “Drills and Thrills” workshop, building and maintenance of taiko
  • Gayle Nye: mentoring for taiko skills, group building

Uzume Taiko
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  • Boyd Seiichi Grealy: taiko skills, composition, musicianship
  • Jason Overy: taiko skills, musicianship, sound engineering
  • Jordy Riley: youth group leadership, taiko skills
  • Bonnie Soon: administration, taiko skills, choreography, building taiko gear

Vancouver Taiko Society
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  • Eileen Kage
  • Lucy Komori
  • Alcvin Ramos
  • Linda Uyehara Hoffman

Vancouver Hachijo Kai
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  • Noriko Kobayashi: Teaching Hachijo Taiko (beginners’ class in Vancouver)

Working Canadian Artists
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  • Akemi Akachi
  • Aki Takahashi (Nagata Shachu)
  • Alcvin Ryuzen Ramos
  • Andrew Czink (Katari Taiko)
  • Atsuko Yamashita (Katari Taiko)
  • Bonnie Soon (Uzume Taiko)
  • Hiroshi Koshiyama (Fubuki Daiko)
  • Kiyoshi Nagata (Nagata Shachu)
  • Heidi Chan (Isshin Daiko)
  • Marc Vantol (LCTA)
  • Margaret McKenty (Hinode Taiko)
  • Naomi Guilbert (Fubuki Daiko)
  • Noriko Kobayashi (Vancouver Hachijo Kai)
  • Scott Kokichi Kusano (JCCC Kyowa Taiko)
  • Steve Kubota (Katari Taiko)
  • Yuko Nozoe (Hinode Taiko)