Kodo+drumming

Kodo is a professional drumming group from Japan. There are 80 members of Kodo, 23 members of the entire 80 are performing (17 are men 6 are women). The other members are staff members and junior members. The age range of the perfomers is 24 to 60 years old. However, they also have apprentices which hope to be chosen to become junior members. After becoming a junior member they train for another year in hope to be chosen to become part of the actual group.

Kodo tries to perserve and re-interpret traditional Japenese performing arts. They have been doing events from worldwide tours to research trips since 1981. Their first major show was in Berlin, where their careers really started. Since then they have given more than 3400 performances on 5 continents. They spend approximately one third of the year away from their country and another third performing in Japan. For the rest of the year they are preparing new material for their next trip.

The word "Kodo" actually has two meanings. The first being "heartbeat" which has also been called "the source of all rythm." However, it can also mean "chlidren of the drum," They use this as to say, "play with the heart of a child," and still enjoy what you are doing now with much excitement and enthusiasm. Kodo actually works with other artists and incorporate them into some performances. Their music is based off of Sado world music and shows a very strong influence in their compositions and performances.