Japanese taikos “STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN / ZIQQURAT”

Final concert of the festival, JAPANESE TAIKOS “STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN / ZIQQURAT”

Shunichiro Kamiya started playing Taiko drums as a 10-year-old in the group Takatana Taiko Hozon Kai. He became in his early teenage years, a disciple of Wadaiko Unit Koh, after which he joined DRUM TAO, a professional Taiko ensemble, to later join the world-famous Taiko ensemble, KODO.

Shunichiro currently lives in the Tokai region of Japan. He actively participates in different concert projects all over the world: in the USA, Canada, Brazil, France, Spain, Hong Kong, Myanmar and Australia, among plenty of others. In addition to performing he regularly, conducts masterclasses for promoting Taiko drums, in schools and other educational institutions.

A group specially assembled for the concert in Põlva, will perform a fragment from the powerful play “ZIQQURAT”.

Ziqqurat (or Ziggurat) is a huge tower talked about in the Book of Genesis. The entire population of the earth, based on Genesis, used to share a common language and culture. It also shared a goal not to live alone or be separated. For that very reason they decided, to build a great city, overlooked by an enormous tower called Ziqqurat. God mixed people’s languages, scattering them all over the world, for humankind not to achieve the ultimate power. A story is told in Põlva forest park, through the incredibly powerful sounds of Taiko drums and dance – a story of belief and solidarity, understanding and caring for one another and keeping together.

*A Buddhist monk accompanying the group, prior to the performance, blesses and purifies the concert grounds, performers and spectators.