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Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State

Event Slides Per Node 1415

  • Four percussionists wearing belted pants and decorated vests yell out while they play their giant drum kits.
  • A group of musicians bang on drums that are suspended from harnesses around their bodies.
  • A percussionist with two drumsticks bangs on a large drum held upright by two men.
  • A musician plays the flute while drummers in the background look on.
  • Three musicians play large drums set on their side on a platform while a fourth performer stands on the platform and plays a smaller drum.
  • A drummer yells out while playing a drum suspended by a harness from her shoulder.
  • Seven percussionists sit cross-legged on a platform on stage each in front of a large drum with their backs to the audience and their arms crossed behind behind them.
  • Five musicians kick their left legs straight out to the side in unison while playing hand cymbals.

Yamato: The Drummers of Japan
Chousensha — The Challengers

7:30 pm Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Japan’s Yamato challenges the possibilities of taiko drumming. The energetic group of mixed-gender percussionists captivates audiences of all ages with its blend of serious musicianship, theatrical staging, intense physicality, and comical excursions.

Yamato will make its fourth appearance at Eisenhower Auditorium in its newest program, Chousensha – The Challengers. The show takes inspiration from the performers’ feelings about their lives and experiences of challenging their limits. It also offers an anthem of encouragement to viewers as they persevere with their own challenges.

“Even the most urbane 21st-century sophisticate, whose veins flow with frothy latte and whose thumbs are adept only at swiping screens, cannot fail to respond to the exhilarating sounds created by Yamato …,” a reviewer for London’s The Stage writes about The Challengers.

Adult $38
University Park Student $15
18 and Younger $28

All In

This presentation is part of the Center for the Performing Arts Diversity and Inclusion Collaborative, which seeks to: immerse an array of people in the performing arts; educate the community about cultures and art forms different from the familiar; influence thinking so we become a community that embraces diversity and promotes inclusion; ensure the activities of the collaborative have a sustainable impact on the community. Funds from across Penn State and throughout the community support the initiative. The University’s Equal Opportunity Planning Committee provides lead funding. Sandra Zaremba and Richard Brown provide support.

Artist Websites: 

Secondary Events on Each Event

Taiko Drum Workshop

1:00 pm Sunday, January 28, 2018

Eisenhower Auditorium lobby

Free and open to the public

A partnership with PENN STATE TAIKO

Free parking is available in the Eisenhower Parking Deck.

Learn about Japanese drumming through a variety of hands-on activities.

No experience required. No need to register in advance.

Doors open at 12:30 p.m.

Questions? Contact Medora Ebersole, education and community programs manager, at mde13@psu.edu or 814-863-6752.

All In

This presentation is part of the Center for the Performing Arts Diversity and Inclusion Collaborative, which seeks to: immerse an array of people in the performing arts; educate the community about cultures and art forms different from the familiar; influence thinking so we become a community that embraces diversity and promotes inclusion; ensure the activities of the collaborative have a sustainable impact on the community. Funds from across Penn State and throughout the community support the initiative. The University’s Equal Opportunity Planning Committee provides lead funding. Sandra Zaremba and Richard Brown provide support.

Artistic Viewpoints

6:30 pm Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Eisenhower Auditorium

Artistic Viewpoints, an informal moderated discussion featuring Yamato drummer Jun Kato or Hisato Fukuda (or perhaps both), is offered one hour before the performance and is free for ticket holders. Artistic Viewpoints regularly fills to capacity, so seating is available on a first-arrival basis.