Japanese Cultural Treasure Eitetsu Hayashi to Begin Artist Residency in Cleveland
by Jami Goldstein
The Ohio Arts Council is pleased to announce plans for a Cleveland based residency with internationally famous Japanese taiko drummer Eitetsu Hayashi in 2006. Eitetsu and members of his group, “Fuun-no-kai,” will visit Cleveland approximately three times between January and May 2006.
The project is produced by the Ohio Arts Council’s International Program, in partnership with Arts Midwest and the U.S./Japan Cultural Trade Network, and supported by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Foundation, Inc.
Each visit will involve several local partners including the Cleveland School of the Arts, Playhouse Square Center, Cleveland State University, Cuyahoga Community College and Music & Performing Arts at Trinity Cathedral. Eitetsu will work with a variety of constituencies to teach the Japanese art form of taiko as a means not only to experience Japanese culture, but also to incorporate the powerful and emotive qualities of taiko into one’s own personal expression. Eitetsu wants to enable participants, through learning and playing taiko, to think deeply, increase confidence and focus, and to derive joy and personal empowerment from the experience. The residencies will culminate with public demonstrations and presentations on taiko by Eitetsu.
“I first heard Eitetsu Hayashi play at a conference of Midwestern Arts Presenters three years ago,” said Wayne Lawson, Ohio Arts Council Executive Director. “It was then that I realized that the sound of taiko can change lives. The Hayashi residency in Columbus and Dublin, Ohio has demonstrated that and I am certain the same will happen in Cleveland. Hayashi is a national treasure in Japan and we are fortunate to have him as a partner in Ohio.”
During the residency, students and adults will have the opportunity to learn taiko performance methods, compose new taiko pieces, and take part in remarkable performances and workshops with Eitetsu Hayashi. Each residency culminates in a final performance where the students have the privilege of playing taiko alongside a world-renown artist and performing their own compositions in front of an audience filled with fellow students, family and community members. Cleveland organizations partnering with the Ohio Arts Council on this unique residency each have a special interest in bringing this traditional Japanese art form to the Cleveland community. Cuyahoga Community College will present student and community workshops on January 24 and an evening lecture-demonstration open to the community on January 29.
The evening event will also feature students from a week-long after-school Playhouse Square Center residency. During the second residency visit in late April, Trinity Cathedral will host a Brownbag Concert featuring Eitetsu and their Artistic Director and organist Daniel Hathaway on April 26, as well as a workshop for members of the nearby De Paul Young Parent Center. The Cleveland State University (CSU) student orchestra will also perform with Eitetsu and students from Cleveland School of the Arts at a May 3, 2006 concert.
Finally, a core group of 20 music students at the Cleveland School of the Arts (CSA) will study with Eitetsu throughout the semester, culminating with a performance on May 25. 2006. CSA is also planning additional work in the visual arts, dance and theatre focusing on Japanese culture throughout the semester. Additional public performances or workshops may be added as the residency develops.
Residency activities with Eitetsu also took place in central Ohio in Dublin. With the Cleveland and Dublin activities combined, the residency will last approximately two years.
For more information about this program please contact Dan Katona at 614/466-2613 or dan.katona@oac.state.oh.us.
The Ohio Arts Council is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically.
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To view more information about Eitetsu Hayashi and Taiko, please click here:
http://www.oac.state.oh.us/News/Press_Releases/AboutEitetsuHayashi.pdf
To view more information about the Hayashi Residency, please click here:
http://www.oac.state.oh.us/News/Press_Releases/AboutHayashiResidency.pdf
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