Join us as we celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage month at I-House featuring Tsukasa Taiko, a program of Asian Improv aRts Midwest.  Tsukasa Taiko is dedicated to understanding and strengthening Japanese American, Asian American, and Japanese identity. Its student and performing groups are composed of a range of ages from toddlers to grandparents, as well as representing an array of ethnicities. Tsukasa Taiko offers year-round group music classes, private lessons, and special workshops for traditional Japanese musical instruments, including taiko, shamisen (3-stringed lute), and shinobue (bamboo flute), to all ages and skill levels. Tsukasa Taiko is unique in its emphasis on the authentic Japanese cultural experience and core esthetics.

As an active performing group, Tsukasa presents over fifty shows a year, both locally and internationally. Tsukasa Taiko offers classes, workshops, lectures, and demonstrations designed to teach how to play taiko, as well as to advance the understanding of how the cultural arts are a reflection of a community’s heritage and legacy. It works closely with schools, companies, and corporations, to provide special performances and presentations on the history of taiko and Japanese music.  Tsukasa Taiko’s popular performing ensemble maintains an active local, national, and international performance schedule, including such prestigious venues as the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Steppenwolf Theater, the Chicago Cultural Center, Millennium Park, the Chicago Jazz Festival, Chicago Symphony Center, the Smithsonian, and the Malta International Theater Festival (Poland).

Tsukasa Taiko’s director, teachers, and staff are dedicated professionals, all recognized and acclaimed as world class artists.  Tatsu Aoki, director, is an internationally renowned, highly respected musician, composer, and recording artist, working in traditionally-based Japanese music as well as experimental and jazz idioms.   Noriko Sugiyama, recently arrived from Japan, will perform as a guest artist with Tsukasa Taiko.  With its strong leadership and aesthetic vision, Tsukasa Taiko is positioned to further the advancement of Japanese art in Chicago, and to expand and develop as a cultural beacon for the future.

Free and open to the public. Family fun for all ages!

Co-sponsored by the International House Global Voices Performing Arts Series and Tsukasa Taiko.