DRUM TAO 2022 brings extraordinary musicianship and exciting athleticism to the McAninch Arts Center (MAC) with performances at 3 and 7 p.m., Saturday, March 12. This performance is part of DRUM TAO’s 2022 North American Tour. A free pre-show discussion provided by COD Percussion Professor Ben Wahlund will begin one hour prior to each performance in MAC Room 140.
DRUM TAO showcases the world’s foremost performers in Japanese taiko drumming. Hailed for its fiery and athletic drumming routines, the group presents a large-scale performance experience featuring the incomparable “Wadaiko-drums,” the beautiful melody of Japanese flutes and harps, energizing choreography and contemporary costuming to captivate audiences’ eyes and ears.
Pictured: DRUM TAO. Photo courtesy of the McAninch Arts Center
To view video clip of DRUM TAO on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" CLICK HERE
More than 8 million spectators across the world have experienced DRUM TAO’s edgy, high-energy performances. The Chicago Tribune hails them as “Extraordinarily talented percussion artists, … seductive, alluring performers;” and the Miami Herald calls DRUM TAO, “Supernaturally fit and superbly trained…Fully deserving of the standing ovation that the company receives.”
The team behind DRUM TAO 2022 includes Founding Member and President Ikuo Fujitaka (stage director), acclaimed Japanese fashion designer Junko Koshin (costume designer) and four performance teams who must be masterful musicians, artists and athletes.
DRUM TAO formed in 1993 with an original cast of seven members. In 2000, while remaining centered in Kyushu, they reached 1 million tickets sold and established TAO Village on a 40,000 square meter plot in Aso Kuju National Park. Since then, DRUM TAO has become known as Japanese entertainment for a new generation. In February 2016, DRUM TAO's Off-Broadway shows in New York were completely sold out. Their new long-run production “MANGEKYO,” started in Tokyo in 2017, became widely popular. It was later expanded into 2018 and was also performed from April 2019 and over the year of the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Also in 2017, DRUM TAO made their major recording debut from UNIVERSAL MUSIC with a compilation of their work for 25 years, which ranked as one of the top three in the iTunes World Album Ranking in five different countries. In 2018, DRUM TAO performed in the opening ceremony of “Japonisms 2018” in Paris, France and co-starred with the Bolshoi Ballet as the opening act of “Japan Year in Russia” held at The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. DRUM TAO’s honors and awards include “Outstanding Cultural Contribution” from Oita prefecture, “Culture Creators Award” from Taketa city in Oita prefecture, and “The 6th Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner Award” and “Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Award” from the Japanese government.
Tickets
DRUM TAO 2022 comes to McAninch Arts Center, located at 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage, with performances at 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday, March 12. Tickets are $40-$49. For tickets or more information, visit www.AtTheMAC.org or call the MAC Box Office at 630.942.4000. The Box Office is open Tuesday through Sunday, 12 noon to 6 p.m. and one hour prior to performance. A free pre-show discussion provided by COD Percussion Professor Ben Wahlund will begin one hour prior to each performance in MAC Room 140.
About the MAC
McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage is located at 425 Fawell Blvd., 25 miles west of Chicago near I-88 and I-355. It houses three indoor performance spaces (780-seat proscenium Belushi Performance Hall; 186-seat soft-thrust Playhouse Theatre; versatile black box Studio Theatre), and outdoor Lakeside Pavilion, plus the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and classrooms for the college’s academic programs. The MAC has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 1.5 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes more than 100,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances each season. The mission of the MAC is to foster enlightened educational and performance opportunities, which encourage artistic expression, establish a lasting relationship between people and art, and enrich the cultural vitality of the community. Visit www.AtTheMAC.org or www.facebook.com/AtTheMAC for more information.
The MAC’s 2021-2022 Season is made possible in part with support by DoubleTree by Hilton Lisle/Naperville, WDCB 90.9 FM and the College of DuPage Foundation.
Established as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization in 1967, the College of DuPage Foundation raises monetary and in-kind gifts to increase access to education and to enhance cultural opportunities for the surrounding community. For more information about the College of DuPage Foundation, visit www.foundation.cod.edu or call 630.942.2462.
Programs at the MAC are partially supported through a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.