Photos by Kim Nakashima

25th Anniversary Concert

Sat / July 19 - 7 pm
The Music Center’s Walt Disney Concert Hall

Thank you to everyone who came out to our 25th Anniversary Concert! We are grateful for all your support over the last quarter-century, and we already have big plans, short-term, and long-term for the next quarter-century! Special thanks to our family, friends, donors, and funders for helping us accomplish our mission. And thank you to our special guests Quetzal (Grammy-winning rock band) and Sumie Kaneko (shamisen and koto virtuoso) for joining us for an unforgettable evening.

We hope you enjoyed our innovative mix of traditional and modern interpretations of American taiko music with our collection of authentic taiko drums, koto (Japanese harp), vocals, marimba, and shinobue (bamboo flute). The celebration was a dual album release party for our fourth studio album “25” and our long-awaited collaborative EP with Quetzal. In addition to performing works featured on the new albums, the ensemble will perform rarely-played songs from past collaborations with KODO veterans Ryutaro Kaneko and Chieko Kojima. We will make both albums available online very soon.

TAIKOPROJECT’s 25th Anniversary Concert is made possible in part by the Los Angeles County Department of Arts & Culture, the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, and our many amazing BaseBeat donors.

If you want to help us reach our matching fund donation goal, please visit our Givelively page!

BaseBeat 2025 Donors

Thank you to our amazing donors who support our creative work and truly help us make our shows happen every year!! If you’d like to support our work and gain access to the best seats in the house, contact us at taikoproject@gmail.com.

OHIRA LEVEL
Robert Hori
John & Sarah Kobara

OJIME LEVEL
Uncle Jerry Baba
Jeanne Sakamoto/The James Irvine Foundation
Steven & Lani Yamami

ODAIKO LEVEL
Rob & Jane Ettinger
Linda Kimura
Traci & Wynn Kiyama
Richard & Masako Murakami
Sansei Legacy of Southern California
Candice Shikai & Dok Yun
TaikoVentures
U.S. Bank
Anonymous

CHUDAIKO LEVEL
Russel Baba & Jeanne Mercer
Mark & Marie Ishida
Hal & Barbara Keimi
Sandra Law
Karen & Jay Mark
Yoshio & Junko Saito

SHIME LEVEL
Kazuko Deguchi
Marvin & Gail Harada
Kelvin Lee & Joseph Hornig
Harry Lieberman
Reiko Ohshima
Day & Tony Yee
Anonymous

PARANKU LEVEL
Alan Arkatov
William Banks
Kelvin Lee & Joseph Hornig
Harry Lieberman
Hidetomi & Yuriko Mimura
Annette Sekine
Margie Wu
Kevin Yoshida
Jerry & Cindy Yoshitomi

BACHI LEVEL
Daniel H. Cohn
Vivian Fang
So Yung Gaeta x2
Shoji Kameda
Nancy Kurihara-Johnson
Leslie Morales
Terry & Gayle Nakano
Patricia Narusaki
Michael Ponder
Anonymous x5

Donor list updated July 20, 2025