The Great Lakes Taiko Center (GLTC) Taiko Arts Collective in SE Michigan exemplifies the artistry and spirit of Japanese Taiko drumming in the USA Midwest today as current members represent various performing and community groups which have formed throughout our Taiko Center history:
Raion Taiko 雷音太鼓 (Sound of Thunder) Ensemble 2009
Godaiko 五大湖 (Great Lakes) Drummers 2015
Sazanami 漣 (Ripples) Taiko Arts Ensemble 2023
T3: Tanoshii Taiko Tai 楽しい太鼓隊 (Fun Drum Team) Community Group 2017
A2 Taiko Players (Ann Arbor) Community Group 2018
Are you looking for a one-of-a-kind performance or hands-on activity for your event? GLTC performance groups are available for a variety of events, from celebrations to school programs to festivals and full concerts. Give your guests the unforgettable experience of live Taiko drums and share Taiko arts with your community!
Raion Taiko
Feel the heartbeat of the drums pulsing with the moving spirit of this Midwest Taiko arts ensemble from the Great Lakes Taiko Center in Southeast Michigan. Raion Taiko “sound of thunder drummers” embrace the Rhythms of rain and Energy of light to create Song on the soundscapes of Japanese Taiko drumming. During stormy times in Life, our collective Love of Taiko Empowers us to be superheroes in our own Stories, uplifted by the strength of our Community, imagining the World we want to live in Together… This is Why We Drum!
Raion Taiko performance highlights of Yamada Mizue and Midwest Taiko repertoire at the Arts Beats & Eats 2022 Summer Festival in Royal Oak, MI.
[Raion Taiko @eileensho: 1. group photo 6/9/2019 - GLTC Why We Drum 2019 Concert & Showcase, The Berman Center for the Performing Arts, West Bloomfield, MI. 2. highlight video 9/3/2022 - Arts Beats & Eats 2022 International Stage, Royal Oak, MI.]
Godaiko Drummers
You can’t just listen to Taiko drumming, you feel it with your heart! Our popular Godaiko “Great Lakes” Drummers are happy to bring an exciting program of Japanese Taiko Arts from the Great Lakes Taiko Center in Southeast Michigan, sharing Music and Culture with local Communities through engaging and heartfelt Performances. Watching the Godaiko Drummers, you will feel how Taiko touches your heart!
Godaiko Drummers share a performance of Kokoro no Michi ~心の道~ Path to Your Heart by member Kyoko Johnson, a piece submitted to the World Taiko Conference (WTC) Taiko Composition Library in Fall 2020.
[Godaiko Drummers @eileensho: 1. group photo 8/7/21 - posing in bon festival attire at #MIBON2021, Wildlife Woods Park, Novi, MI; 2. video cover photo 5/13/23 - performing at Hanami Spring Picnic, MSU Tollgate Farm Japanese Gardens, Novi, MI]
Sazanami 漣 Taiko Arts Ensemble
Experience the impactful artistry of Japanese taiko drumming with Sazanami 漣 “ripples” Taiko Arts Ensemble led by Ann Arbor-based Taiko artist Mathew Jacqmin-Kramer with other members from the Great Lakes Taiko performance collective. [group photo L-R: Jianin Chen, Maro Beauchamp, Ash Brown, Mathew Jacqmin-Kramer, and Eileen S. Ho]
Sazanami 漣 Taiko Arts Ensemble concert and presentation with Q&A, hosted by the Center for Japanese Studies (CJS) with U-M Flint Thompson Center for Learning & Teaching, for the University of Michigan Fall 2023 Festival of Asian Music series.
[Sazanami 12/6/2023, The Kiva, University of Michigan-Flint: 1. group photo & video cover photo by Shannon courtesy of University of Michigan Photography; 2. program video posted to YouTube @umcjs]
T3 Tanoshii Taiko Tai community group come together for a team cheer before their performance in the Japanese Bon Festival at Cranbrook #MIBON2023. [photo: Shintaro Nabeshima, 8/13/2023, Cranbrook Japanese Garden campus, Bloomfield Hills, MI]
T3: GLTC’s “Fun Drum Team”
Tanoshii Taiko Tai (T3) is our fun-loving community group based in Novi, MI. Members of T3 study and practice together in our T3/BBK Festival Music class and always show up for each other with great Taiko spirit and energy.
A2 Taiko Players
Ichi-Ni-SO-Re! “1-2-Ready-Go!” Our A2 Taiko Players are always SO Ready to rock the rhythms and play our songs together. Members of this community group practice and learn together in our A2 Taiko Play class in Ann Arbor, MI.
