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University Park, Pa. -- Kodo performers explore the possibilities of the ancient Japanese drum, the taiko, by preserving traditions and forging new directions. One direction brings the Japanese percussionists to Penn State’s Eisenhower Auditorium for a performance at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 18.

Tickets for the Center for the Performing Arts presentation are $37 for an adult, $20 for a University Park student and $24 for a person 18 and younger. Buy tickets online at http://www.cpa.psu.edu or by phone at (814) 863-0255 or (800) ARTS-TIX. Tickets also are available at Eisenhower Auditorium (weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), Penn State Tickets Downtown (weekdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), HUB-Robeson Center (weekdays 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. when Penn State classes are in session) and Bryce Jordan Center (weekdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.). A grant from the University Park Allocation Committee makes Penn State Student prices possible.

"Clad in sweatbands and loincloths, they are like percussionist kamikazes," writes a Village Voice critic. "You expect them to drum till they drop."
 
The drumming ensemble has performed more than 3,100 times on five continents. The versatile performers dance and play a variety of instruments, but it is their awesome drums — including the massive o-daiko, a behemoth carved from the trunk of a single tree and played by two men — that captivate.

"The speed and dexterity are as impressive as the physical tenacity is breathtaking," writes a Chicago Tribune reviewer.

Kodo debuted at Germany’s Berlin Festival in 1981. Ever since, the group has spent one-third of each year touring Japan, one-third on its home base of Sado Island and the rest touring overseas. Since 1988, Kodo has joined with the communities on Sado Island to hold the international music festival Earth Celebration, which the New York Times describes as "Japan’s leading world music event." With the creation of the Kodo Cultural Foundation in 1997, Kodo has also become involved in the running of the Kodo Apprentice Centre, conducting cultural research programs and leading a variety of workshops.

Foxdale Village, a Quaker-directed continuing care retirement community, underwrites family presentations at the Center for the Performing Arts. WTAJ-TV, 93.7 THE BUS and the Centre Daily Times are the media sponsors. Artistic Viewpoints, an informal discussion featuring a visiting artist or local expert, is offered in Eisenhower Auditorium one hour before the performance and is free for ticket-holders. Artistic Viewpoints regularly fills to capacity. Seating is available on a first-arrival basis.

-- Laura Sullivan 02/27/09 >> go there
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