Exploring the limitless possibilities of the traditional Japanese drum, the taiko, Kodo – Percussion from Japan are forging new directions for a vibrant living art-form, one of the most traditional in the country. In Japanese the word “Kodo” conveys two meanings: the first is “heartbeat”, the primal source of all rhythm. Secondly, the word can also mean “children of the drum”, a reflection of Kodo's desire to play their drums simply, with the heart of a child. The impact of this unique work on the audience is enormous, as the critics’ comments reveal:

“The 14 musicians have created waves of percussive sound that transformed the Carnegie Hall in a resonant cavity, covered in animal skin”
(New York Times).

“Not to be missed. The sound of their drums will forever be present in your memory”
(Le Quotidien de Paris).

“A dynamic vision, full of energy… Nothing can prepare you to the sound of these 500-kg drums, to the exactitude of their timing or to the wall of sound. An essential experience”
(Time Out Magazine).

Wherever Kodo presents, the amazement and fascination are constant. It has been this way in the whole world; it was like this in 1988, when Kodo’s percussionists premièred in Brazil, in Cultura Artística’s season. It will be like this again twenty years later, in the sensational end-of-season concerts for the year 2008, when we commemorate 100 years of the Japanese immigration to Brazil.