Taiko Drumming- Young Audiences Attends Professional Development Event

Sounds reverberated from downtown Buffalo's Alleyway Theater last Monday as local educators and art education professionals attended a workshop hosted by the Western New York Regional Leadership Network that demonstrated how the ancient ryhthms of Taiko drumming may be integrated into the classroom.

Master drummer Alan Núñez, has been a musician for over 30 years and is touring upstate New York to share his love of the Taiko drum with local educators and students. Trained originally as a pianist, he discovered world percussion and the cross-curricular links that can be made between drumming and other subjects. He has worked for New York City Opera, the New York Philharmonic, the Julliard School, as well as various other arts-in-education organizations and is founder of the ducational drumming group, Boundless Percussion.

Núñez demonstrated how Taiko drums, a regal and thusly costly investment for most schools, could be created at low-cost from everyday materials found at Home Depot. Participants used "kuchi showa", the mnemonic syllables that correspond with each sound/note of an instrument, to learn and perform a traditional, five-part drum circle song.

Maria Hager, music teacher from Young Audiences partner school, H.O. Brumsted, was in attendance (her second workshop with Núñez) and was excited to bring Alan's unique drumming methods back to her students. Young Audiences teaching artist, Miriam Minkoff, participated and spoke of the "empowering feeling" she experienced while working with the large-scale Taiko drum.

Alan emphasized that the drum is not only a musical intrument, but a basic means of communication. Rhythm exists within all of us and the ancient art of Taiko proves to be an inspirational tool for group cooperation and learning.