Korean Drumming and Creative Music Ensemble and Taiko Japanese Drumming Ensemble Fall Concert

Sunday, December 7, 2025 at 4:00pm
World Music Hall

Free and open to the public.

A concert by Wesleyan’s Korean Drumming and Creative Music Ensemble, directed by Assistant Professor of the Practice in Music Jin Hi Kim, will be followed by a performance from the Taiko Japanese Drumming Ensemble, directed by Visiting Instructor in Music Fumi Tanakadate.

Beginning and advanced students of the Korean Drumming and Creative Music Ensemble will play new arrangements of samulnori (percussion quartet) repertoire, performed on two-headed drums (janggu), barrel drums (buk), hand gong (kwenggari), and suspended gong (jing). The ensemble plays a variety of mesmerizing janggu rhythmic patterns, and also creates new pieces, discovering the sounds that are possible through imaginative explorations on their instruments. Advanced students perform in unison on janggu and improvise vigorous drumming on the standing barrel drum as well as present creative works on various instruments.



Wesleyan’s Taiko Japanese Drumming Ensemble introduces students to the fundamentals of this Japanese style of drumming, with an emphasis on kumidaiko (ensemble drumming), as well as the philosophies and the cultural context (focusing on diasporic contexts). Students learn basic form and technique and have the opportunity to perform thunderous and thrilling rhythms that engage several dynamic and exciting styles from traditional and contemporary Taiko repertoire.