Officially Begins: Friday, May 16th at 9:00 AM EST

Officially Ends: Sunday, May 18th in the afternoon (details to follow)

We heard you! We’re excited to present in-depth learning, performing opportunities, and a chance to connect with taiko people. The Festival will be a weekend packed with workshops and community building activities, culminating in a public performance.

The baseline price is USD $375 per participant and includes the following:

• Artistic direction by Kaoly Asano and Emily Harada
• 10+ hours of workshops
• 2 public performance opportunities with Kaoly and the kaDON community
• “Coffee” breaks for time to chat and connect

Lodging and meals are not included. However, there are many options for lodging in Fort Wayne. The closest hotel to our workshop is the Holiday Inn Purdue in Fort Wayne. Snacks will be provided during break time.

Link for Holiday Inn: https://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/us/en/fort-wayne/fwayn/hoteldetail

We will perform a variety of pieces from the kaDON repertoire, as well as Gocoo’s piece “Eleven.” kaDON repertoire includes:

• “Wa No Ichi”
• “Ready Set kaDON”
• “Odaiko Kakeai Kihon Kyoku”

There will be a wide range of difficulty levels so that everyone will have something to perform and challenge them! You do not need to perform every piece, but we will work on all of them.

We will learn the pieces beforehand through kaDON’s course offerings. We will also host a series of kaDON LIVE events to help participants prepare for the weekend, and we will provide videos and other materials for additional support!

The workshops will focus on timing and playing as an ensemble, using elements from the pieces we will perform. In addition, these workshops will help us perform the pieces better at the end of the weekend.

Because “Eleven” is not a kaDON piece, a significant amount of workshop time will be dedicated to it. However, it is expected that you be generally familiar with this piece. Material will be shared in advance.

You’ll be assigned pieces to learn based on your stated taiko comfort level. We will work with each participant to find a good mix of pieces for them.

Even if you choose not to perform, you will be able to participate in all of the workshops.

We will be taking pre-orders that can be picked up at the retreat. Shipping charges are waived for all pre-orders, so it’s a great opportunity to coordinate purchases for other members of your ensemble who do not plan to attend. We’ll send a note to registrants when the pre-order window opens. You can browse the kaDON store, or you can request items from Miyamoto Unosuke Shoten’s entire catalog by emailing us at info@kadon.com.