Inaugural Australia & NZ Taiko Conference takes place in Melbourne to "play the drum together again"

"I think Taiko communities in both Melbourne and Sydney became a bit less energetic after the lockdowns. I hope this conference will boost our mood and help us connect with each other", Ayako Tsunazawa, president of Taikokoro, a Melbourne-based non-profit taiko group co-organising the conference, said.

Renowned Japanese taiko player Eiichi Sait (left) and Ayako Tsunazawa, president of non-proft taiko organization in Melbourne Credit: Takashi Okamoto (left) and Ayako Tsunazawa (right)

The inaugural Austalian & New Zealand Taiko Conference (ANZTC) 2022 will take place from the 28th of October to the 30th of October in Melbourne.

This will be the first Taiko Conference in Oceania. About 55 participants will attend, who are mostly from Australia but some will fly into Australia from New Zeland, Japan, and the United States.

Taiko is commonly explained as Japanese drum. As its popularity grew globally, Taiko Conference in both North America and Europe grew bigger and bigger.

In 2020, the inaugural World Taiko Conference was held online from Japan.

ANZTC was planned for 2021 originally, but due to the Covid-19 restrictions, it was posponed to 2022.

ANZTC 2022 has a special guest from Japan, Eiichi Saito, a renowned Japanese taiko player from Japanese taiko group Kodo.

In the audio, Ms Tsunazawa and Mr Saito talk about the conference and the charm of taiko.

Taikokoro organises a special taiko concert on the Melbourne Cup Day, featuring Eiichi Saito and Japanese musicians based in Australia.

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