On Friday, March 11 a group of 15 JETAA members and friends attended the Kodo Drummers’ show at the Sony Centre in downtown Toronto. In light of the disaster that had happened in Japan less than 24 hours earlier it was a night of mixed emotions. We had looked forward to the night for months but our hearts went out to those in Japan.
We started the night with an informal dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory and then headed over to the theatre. Appropriately the concert began with a few minutes silence to honour those involved in the disaster. And then the show began! It was two hours long and absolutely astounding! Of course, there were taiko drums but there were also flutes (ふえ), cymbals (じゃんがら) and even some traditional dance. But, the best part of the night was after the show when we had the privilege of meeting members of the group in a private lounge at the Sony Centre. We met Miyazaki Masami and Nakagome Kenta and were able to ask questions and take pictures. It was a great opportunity and we’re looking forward to doing it again the next time we’re lucky enough to have this fantastic group in our city!
For more information on Kodo visit: http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/index_en.html.