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Japanese drummers invited to Woodford Festival

October 18, 2006

New England Taiko performingA traditional Japanese drumming group based at the University of New England has been invited to perform at the Woodford Festival in December – Australia's largest folk festival featuring many well-known acts from Australia and overseas.

New England Taiko includes members who have have been practising and performing together since late 2004 when a group of taiko drummers from Kanuma City in Japan visited Armidale as part of a sister city arrangement. Before the musicians returned to Japan they donated three drums, a gong and several flutes to the University of New England and the city of Armidale.

Associate Professor Hugh de Ferranti, a lecturer in Japanese culture at the university, took on the challenge of mastering this unique form of music and forming a group to play it.

“We had the instruments but none of us knew how to play them beyond the basic strokes we’d learned in a short workshop,” he said. “Although I could play other Japanese instruments I had never played that sort of festival drumming and flute music before.”

Dr de Ferranti said he had learned to play the instruments by making a trip to Kanuma to receive lessons from the taiko and flute players every time he visited Japan. He and his drummers have since become a regular fixture in the Armidale Autumn Festival parade and other local events, performing their energetic style of music in traditional Japanese dress. A photo of the New England Taiko group was also featured in a photographic exhibition that travelled throughout Australia earlier this year, as part of the 2006 Year of Australia-Japan Exchange.

Dr de Ferranti said he was thrilled the group had been invited to play in the Folkloric and Community groups section of the Woodford Festival. New England Taiko was an excellent example of how academics could extend their research skills to have an impact in the wider community, he said.

“This is an ongoing practical musical activity,” he said, “and something I could not possibly do without having expertise in Japanese language and culture.”

The Woodford Folk Festival is held between Boxing Day and New Year's Day every year in Woodford, 75 km north of Brisbane. It originated as the Maleny Folk Festival in 1987, before moving to Woodford in 1994. Famous artists who have performed at Woodford include The Whitlams, Missy Higgins, The Cat Empire, Pete Murray and The John Butler Trio. More than 100,000 visitors attend the festival each year.

For more information contact Leon Braun (UNE Public Relations) on (02) 6773 3771. A photo is available to accompany this story.

Posted by Leon Braun at October 18, 2006 09:25 AM