Celebrate Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month with the Thunderstudies

Kaminari Taiko's Apprentice-level community outreach ensemble, the Thunderstudies, is planning a mini tour to celebrate Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. We will visit multiple locations in the Houston area in May 2018 and provide a short program including a taiko (Japanese drumming) performance and a hands-on opportunity for audience members to try playing the drums themselves. Thunderstudies presentations run about 45 minutes and are suitable for all ages.

We're looking for presenters to host the stops on our tour! Each presenter will provide the facility, bring in the audience, and run the event, and the Thunderstudies will provide the performance and educational cultural presentation. We run this program at no cost to the presenter, as a way to share taiko with our community.

To be eligible to apply for a visit on the 2018 tour, a presenter/facility must:
   - Be located in the Houston area
   - Have a space suitable for a taiko performance. The drums are large and quite loud. If the event will be held indoors, it requires a large open space (auditorium, gymnasium, large event space, etc.). If the event will be held outdoors, the performance requires a hard, flat surface (not grass or dirt) at least 16' x 24', plus adequate space for the audience. If the event will be held outdoors with no cover, we will have to cancel the tour stop if it rains.
   - Have parking available for our van and trailer (35 feet long combined)
   - Be available to host a tour visit on at least one Saturday or Sunday in May 2018
   - Make the event available to the general public at no cost
   - Be primarily responsible for marketing the event and drawing an audience from the community

We are accepting presenter applications for the 2018 tour through April 8, 2018. To apply, please fill out the form below.

In considering applications, it's especially helpful for us to see photos of each event space. This is not required, but if you have photos of your proposed event space, you can email them to us at email@ilovetaiko.org with the subject line "Thunderstudies APAHM Tour Application - [Your Organization Name]".

Once the application period ends, we will choose the tour date and locations and notify the selected presenters no later than April 15. Selections will be based on several factors, including:
   - Suitability of event space
   - Efficiency of tour route
   - Ability of the presenter to host and promote the event
   - Time since the Thunderstudies have last visited a particular location/community

Questions? Contact us at email@ilovetaiko.org.