August 19-20 - Anderson Japanese Gardens Summer Festival celebrates the spirit of Japan with traditional entertainment, artisans and food - fully enjoyed with the breathtaking backdrop of the award-winning Garden. Ho Etsu performs 3 entirely different sets per day - we hope to see you...
On August 27 Ho Etsu will once again participate in the University of Illinois Matsuri Festival. Held on the grounds of Japan House and the University Arboretum, on the U of I campus in Champaign-Urbana, the festival showcases Japanese culture. To learn more about follow this...
On September 9 Ho Etsu Taiko returns to Lexington Kentucky to participate in the JASK Summer Festival sponsored by the Japan/America Society of Kentucky. If you're in the Lexington area we invite you to spend the day at the festival for its food, cultural displays...
Date: Thursday October 26th, 2017 Time: 8:00 PM to 10:30PM (multiple artists) Location: it’s a secret! Ticketing Link: Go to this link, click the “Attend OCTOBER 26th WEST LOOP series" button. A little explanation about his event We love exposing new audiences to...
Date: Sunday November 5, 2017 Time: 6:00 PM to 7:30PM Location: The Hideout - 1354 W Wabansia, Chicago IL 60642 Tickets: $15.00, online or at the box office (773) 227 4433 In 2015, we collaborated on a joint performance with Los Angeles-based On Ensemble....
Date: Sunday November 19, 2017 Time: 6:00 PM Cost: Free Location: Alphawood Gallery We are honored to have been asked to perform for the closing of "Then They Came for Me". Through this performance we will return to our foundation, commemorating the influence of...
Date: Sunday February 18, 2018 Time: 2:00 - 4:00 PM Cost: Free - Advance Registration Required Location: Chicago History Museum Register: https://www.chicagohistory.org/event/day-remembrance-2018/ Ho Etsu is honored to perform at the 2018 Day of Remembrance. And for this special event, we will play our latest piece "Poston"...
Sponsored by: Full Spectrum Features Date: Friday March 9, 2018 Time: 6:30 - 9:30 PM Location: Sanctuary on Michigan Avenue Cost: Free - Advance Registration Required Register: Eventbrite or Facebook No-No Boy creates an immersive experience which shines a light on diverse but interconnected histories:...
Join us for a rare evening devoted to Edo Matsuri Bayashi, the 300-year-old traditional festival music of historic Tokyo. Master musician and performer, Kyosuke Suzuki of the acclaimed Wakayama performance troupe, is visiting from Japan and will lead a discussion and demonstration of this rich...
Kishi Bashi, acclaimed songwriter and violinist, will perform an intimate acoustic concert on June 1 at the Gary and Laura Maurer Concert Hall. He will be joined by Ho Etsu Taiko and No-No Boy. This concert is sponsored by the Old Town School of Folk Music...
Composer’s note: Poston is an incarceration camp in Arizona that held over 17,000 Japanese American citizens rounded up and displaced by the US government during World War II.
Only what you can carry, they said
An unknown future, moving forward
Separation, nulled identities
Stories hidden, some may never know
Divided by war (Unified to forge ahead)
What lies ahead from here? (We’re staring into present day)
No time for the past (Unified in face of hate)
What lies ahead from here? (Won’t let it repeat again)
All life
All life is
All the love you give
Tell me Where does your heart
Your heart live?
All life
All life is
All the love you give
Tell me Where does your heart
Your heart live?
In the nightwood, dark and deep
The tiny songbird cries in sleep
Sleep my love, though the wind do wail
And snow clouds pile, and storm and hail
Black bough trees, cold earth beneath
The breath of night bares icy teeth
Water moves, though the moving’s slow
And the deepest root guards life below
Fire flicker, warm and bright
Bind us in your ring of light
Shadows tall on the cold ground cast
Draw dancing shapes of those who passed
Gather now in the circle round
While the hoarfrost kiss the ground
Heart and hand and drum and song
We speak of them, we speak of them, our voices strong
Mountains high and oceans wide
The dead stand with us, side by side
Greeting’s sweet and parting’s sore
And still time’s tide wears on our shore, wears on our shore
And still time’s tide wears on our shore
Come by me and share your light
Walk hand in hand into the night
Glowing hearts and our faces cold
Life catches us in a web of gold
In the nightwood, dark and deep
A tiny songbird sighs in sleep
Sleep my child though the wind do cry
My love will keep you by and by