A successful cultural exchange programs
Dublin Arts Council, Dublin, Ohio
(A report from Dublin Arts Council on April 2006)
At the beginning of 2003, the Ohio Arts Council (OAC) and Arts Midwest (AMW) began thinking about a cultural exchange program with master Japanese performing artist Eitetsu Hayashi.
The OAC identified three Ohio arts organizations who had successfully implemented artist residencies and cultural exchange programs, and Dublin Arts Council (DAC) was one of three organizations selected based on the established criteria.
DAC was directed to begin thinking about the cultural exchange more formally – what kinds of activities could take place in its community; who would be involved; what would be the purpose of an international artist exchange; and, how would the organization implement the project into its overall goals and objectives.
Then, DAC staff members traveled to Japan to see Mr. Hayashi perform and to meet and discuss possible cultural exchange and residency activities. From the very beginning, it was understood that the mission of the hosting organization would be to understand and implement the activities so that all interested parties would benefit and learn from the cultural exchange opportunity.
Mr. Hayashi subsequently visited the Dublin, Ohio area twice prior to the beginning of formal residency exchange activities – to meet possible project partners and participants, visit residency activities sites, to learn more about the community where activities that might take place and to further develop project goals and desires in tangent with representatives of DAC, OAC and AMW.
Dublin Arts Council sought possible partners and participants who could assist in the successful implementation of the cultural exchange program. These partners included: The City of Dublin, The Dublin City Schools, Capital University, Dublin Coffman High School student Jacob Yandura and various music educators and performers throughout the State of Ohio.
Finally, in May 2004, Mr. Hayashi made his first of six visits to the Dublin/Columbus area to begin the International Cultural Exchange Project. This unprecedented international exchange encompassed taiko drum performance, original composition and educational outreach, as well as the sharing of cultural information, language, and friendship.
Crossing cultural boundaries and transcending language barriers through music, Hayashi worked with educators, musicians, middle school students and college-level conservatory students to impart the emotional, physical and spiritual power of traditional Japanese drumming and Japanese culture.
Major project components:
Davis Middle School, Dublin City Schools, Dublin, Ohio
Hayashi worked intensively with a core group of 20 students at Davis Middle School on taiko drum performance. The ensemble learned to play several taiko compositions from memory and worked together to create an original taiko composition.
Hayashi, his group members and this core group of teenagers have developed a profound love and respect for one another and continue to communicate via email and letter exchanges.
The students also continue to study, rehearse, and perform, and are planning a Japan tour in July 2006 to bring the cultural exchange full circle. The Dublin Taiko Group will perform with Hayashi and his group, Fuun-no-Kai, in Kanazawa, Japan on Tuesday, July 25, 2006.
Hayashi met with larger groups of students at Davis Middle School (grades 6 – 8) for lecture/demonstration events, expanding his impact on the school district, and providing the artist and the larger student population with opportunities to interact with one another.
The school, as a whole, embraced the residency, and teachers incorporated a variety of Japanese studies into their curriculum, including Japanese language, culture, geography, food and government.
At the end of year, the school shared the artifacts from their studies at a culminating event, including 2,000 paper cranes that had been folded by the Davis school community over the course of the cultural exchange program.
These cranes were shipped to Japan and have since been placed at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial by Hayashi, along with a wish for peace from Davis Middle School. Hayashi sent the Davis students photos with original and translated newspapers articles, showing their cranes placed at the memorial.
Jacob Yandura, Dublin City Schools, Dublin, Ohio
Hayashi forged a special relationship with Dublin Coffman High School student and composer Jacob Yandura, who was selected to create an original composition for taiko, piano and chorus as a component of the residency. At the time of the residency, Yandura was a senior in high school.
Hayashi and Yandura collaborated each time Hayashi visited the Dublin community, and the resulting composition was truly a partnership and blending of ideas, cultures, musical talents, strengths and vision. Yandura is the first American composer invited to create original music for Hayashi, and his piece, Synthesis, premiered at the culminating event for this cultural exchange program.
Tran the Trainer
Another component of Hayashi’s residency included three days of intensive taiko instruction for a group of music educators from across the state of Ohio. Called “Train the Trainer,” the three-day workshop was developed in order to broaden Hayashi’s impact on the greater community by providing skills, training and knowledge to a group of educators who can, in turn, teach taiko in their classrooms.
The workshop spawned a group of young taiko students called the “Taiko Honors Group,” led by Train the Trainers participants Susann Hubbell of Davis Middle School in Dublin, Ohio, Adam Lynskey of Kirkersville Middle School, and Rachael Ungericht of Kirkersville Elementary School in Kirkersville, Ohio.
Like the Dublin Taiko Group of Davis Middle School, these students continue to study and have performed locally and for the Ohio Music Educators’ Association annual convention, showcasing the cultural exchange to a new audience.
Capital University, Bexley, Ohio
A final component of the year-long residency included a special course in taiko for Capital University’s Conservatory of Music students. Fifteen Conservatory students enrolled in Music 493, taught by Hayashi and his assistants.
The course provided students with an intimate, in-depth, hands-on learning experience from one of the worlds most accomplished musicians. Like the students at Davis Middle School, the Music 493 students also composed an original taiko piece.
Culmination, Dublin Coffman High School, Dublin City Schools, Dublin, Ohio
A culminating event took place to a full-house on April 30, 2005 and featured the artifact-sharing of Davis Middle School studies in the lobby of the Dublin Coffman High School performing arts center.
Stage performances included Hayashi’s 20-student ensemble from Davis Middle School in Dublin; students from Hayashi’s Music 493 class at Capital University’s Conservatory of Music; and participants in the “Train the Trainer” workshop.
The evening also included the world premier of Synthesis, Jacob Yandura’s original composition for taiko and vocal performance, as well as a special performance by Eitetsu Hayashi and his ensemble, Fuun-no-Kai.
This project was produced by Dublin Arts Council, the Ohio Arts Council, the U.S./Japan Cultural Trade Network, and Arts Midwest, with major support from the National Endowment for the Arts and private contributors.
Additional support was provided by HAL, Inc., Dublin City Schools, Capital University, Ohio State University, Asano Taiko Co., the City of Dublin, Clarion Hotels, Hidaka USA, the Institute for Japanese Studies at OSU, Ippon Supplies, the Japan-American Society of Central Ohio, Nissin Travel Service, the Ohio Arts Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education.
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Dublin Arts Council (DAC) is a not-for-profit multi-arts organization in Dublin, Ohio. Dublin Arts Council enriches the community by striving to provide the highest caliber arts and arts education experiences. The council began in 1983 as an ad-hoc committee to bring the Columbus Symphony Orchestra to the dedication of Scioto Park. The success of this activity encouraged the committee to form Dublin Arts Council.
Since 1983, DAC has grown from an ad-hoc committee to a private nonprofit, impacting thousands of individuals each year through a variety of community arts programs, including an award-winning Art in Public Places program, an annual Art + Music Festival and the DAC Sundays at Scioto concert series. The Dublin Arts Council Gallery features rotating exhibitions by local, national and international artists, and the Dublin Arts Center offers classes for children and adults in the performing, visual and literary arts as well as school tours, summer ARTcamps and ARTventures, a gallery education program for toddlers and preschool-age children.
Dublin Arts Council is securing the future of the arts in Dublin through arts education programs in Dublin City Schools, as well as community arts and education grants.
The Ohio Arts Council’s International Program is recognized as a leader in cultural arts exchanges among U.S. state arts agencies. Designed to foster long-term involvement in international cultural exchanges, the International Program encourages Ohio artists and arts organizations to form partnerships with arts professionals abroad.
The International Program provides grants to help nonprofit educational, cultural and arts organizations, individual artists, performers, educators, arts managers and administrators develop exemplary international arts projects and innovative partnerships that increase Ohio’s access to international arts activities.
Eitetsu Hayashi, Japan’s premier taiko drummer, began his career as a founding member of the world-renowned groups Sado-Ondekoza and Kodo. After serving as both groups’ music director and premier player for eleven years, Eitetsu became a solo artist in 1982.
In 1984, Hayashi made his Carnegie Hall debut with the American Symphony Orchestra, introducing a new musical genre to the West. Since that time, he has performed all over the globe, and with some of the world’s top orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic. He is the recipient of the 47th Education Minister’s Art Encouragement Prize (Popular Entertainment Division, 1997,) a prestigious Japanese national cultural award; and the 8th Award for Promotion of Traditional Japanese Culture (Japan Arts Foundation, 2001.)