MAIKAZE DAIKO
MAIKAZE DAIKO
MAI - Dance, KAZE - Wind , (D)TAIKO - Japanese Drumming
DANCING WIND TAIKO
About Us
Maikaze Daiko is a San Francisco-based performance ensemble and Taiko school. Our name, "Dancing Wind", reflects our focus on innovative arrangements, precision taiko playing and creative use of movement and space. Our mission is to preserve and promote the rich cultural and artistic heritage of Japanese Taiko drumming while giving a voice to American Taiko in the 21st century through performing neo-traditional pieces that are rooted in Japanese culture and with original modern works that are musltidisciplinary and narrative-driven, recontextualizing the traditional aspects of the art form.
The group has been honored to perform at such events such as the 2018 International Taiko Festival, the San Francisco Chinese New Year's Parade and the San Francisco World Percussion Arts Festival. The ensemble is comprised of highly trained community members and is one of the few groups outside of Japan who have been bestowed the permission to perform in the regional style of Wajima Kiriko Daiko and also been given the permission to perform Amanojaku’s signature piece, “Bujin”. Maikaze Daiko offers a range of classes open to the public at our current home in Oakland. The organization has extensive experience conducting corporate team building workshops and has worked with various Fortune 500 Companies such as Facebook and Google.
Since its founding, Maikaze Daiko has performed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and has produced numerous concerts including the bi-annual San Francisco World Percussion Arts Festival and the weekly production, "Maikaze Daiko & Friends" (2014-15), at the Hotel Nikko in SF which hosted visiting luminary artists such as Shakuhachi Master Artist, Riley Lee, and Master Taiko Artist, Kenny Endo.
Highlighted Past Events & Clients
Public Events:
2024 SF Cherry Blossom Festival
2023 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Music Festival
2023 J-Town Music Fest
2023 Collaboration w/ Guzheng Artist, Bei Bei
2023 Chinese New Year's at Graton Casino Resort
2022 J-Town Music Fest
2022 Robert Moses' KIN Art Day
2019 MINISO Grand Opening
2018 San Francisco International Taiko Festival
2018 San Francisco Cherry Blossom Taiko Festival
2010 - 2018 The San Francisco World Percussion
Arts Festival
2016 San Francisco Chinese New Year's Parade
"Maikaze Daiko & Friends" at the Hotel Nikko (2014-2015)
2013 Game Developer's Confreence - Sony Playstation' Matsuri Event
Clients/Private Events:
Facebook
Google
Gilead Sciences
Consul General of Japan, SF
In-N-Out Burgers
Sega
Sony Playstation
Gamers Developer Conference
Artistic Director
Bruce "Mui" Ghent
Bruce Ghent, aka “Mui”, has spent the last 40 years as a multifaceted performing artist that has crossed from the classical contemporary dance world to the Taiko world and somewhere in between. As a dancer/movement artist who received his degree in Modern Dance & Choreography from the California Institute of the Arts, he has worked and performed with the likes of MacArthur “Genius” Recipient and Tony Award winning choreographer, Bill T. Jones (Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Co.), Robert Moses’ KIN Dance Company, GeorgeCoates Performance Works, Berkeley Repertory Theater Company, and the Redwood Empire Ballet Company. Mr. Ghent has also extensively studied the martial arts under renowned teachers including Kung Fu Mater Kam Yuen (Technical Advisor for the TV show, "Kung Fu" w/David Carradine) and National TKD Champion and Filipino Martial Arts Master, Roland Ferrer.
In 1993, Mr. Ghent began his formal study of Taiko under Grandmaster Seiichi Tanaka, where after becoming a principal member of the San Francisco Taiko Dojo, he toured throughout the US and in Japan sharing the stage with some of the great masters of Wadaiko and traditional Japanese music. After his tenure with San Francisco Taiko Dojo, Mui went on to create and direct the cutting edge Taiko quartet, Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble. The professional touring ensemble focused on progressive theatrical work including collaborations with renowned jazz artists, traditional folk musicians and choreographers. The ensemble's music was featured on the Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker Steve Okazaki's, "Mifune: The Last Samurai" . Concurrently, Mr. Ghent also produced a seasonal nightly production entitled, “Nishikaze Daiko”, for Disneyland which he developed with the aid of UCLA’s Kyodo Taiko.
As an educator and commissioned Taiko-based composer, he has conducted workshops and residencies internationally while his his work has been performed nationally and internationally including the Middle East, Cuba, and the Caribbean. He produces and directs the Annual SF World Percussion Arts Festival which has featured such luminary artists as Yoshikazu & Yoko Fujimoto (KODO), GONNA (Japan), Jim Sani Owen (Tabla), Duniya Dance & Drum (West African), Hiroyuki Hayashida (KODO), Eien Hunter-Ishikawa (Vibraphone), Bruce Huebner (Shakuhachi) and Ong Dance Company (Korea).
He served as the Resident Taiko Composer and Instructor for Dance Brigade from 2000-2015 in which his work was nominated for the 2002 Isadora Duncan Award for Sound/Music/Text. From 2014-2015, Mr. Ghent produced a weekly show at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco entitled “Maikaze Daiko & Friends”, which showcased Taiko and Japanese Folk Music which included distinguished visiting artists such as Master Shakuhachi Artist, Riley Lee and Master Taiko Artist, Kenny Endo. He is one of a handful of Taiko artists awarded the “Distinguished Alumni” certification by Grandmaster Tanaka of the SF Taiko Dojo and holds a 1st Kyu certification in Wajima Kiriko Daiko which is officially recognized by the Wajima Kiriko Daiko Hozonkai in Japan. He is also a 2-time recipient of the Certificate of Honor by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Currently, Mr. Ghent is a credentialed teacher for SF Unified School District where he teaches the Taiko full-time for the Visual & Performing Arts program and is widely known as having taught Taiko to more children than anyone else in the U.S. He currently serves as the Artistic Director and Head Instructor for Maikaze Daiko in Oakland, CA.
