Creative Team
by Byron Au Yong
in collaboration with Michelle Fujii, Karen Akada Sakata and Toru Watanabe performing with voice, xun [clay flute], er-hu [fiddle], Chinese percussion, bamboo, water, and rocks

Production Manager Frank Minoru Phillips
Production Coordinator Sarah Lin Bhatia
Installation Coordinator Lorraine Pai
Costume Designer Michelle Kumata
Shibori Artist Kikuko Dewa

About
Premiered as part of Portland Taiko's Spring Concert
at Lincoln Performance Hall from April 6-7, 2007

Program Notes
In 2006, a 28-year-old shot six youth, then killed himself. Thinking about the Capitol Hill shootings close to home and bombs dropping on the other side of the world, I created Piao Zhu: Flying Bamboo, a site-responsive ceremony.
 
Ji Mo: The Stillness of Solitude began as a reworking of Piao Zhu for Lincoln Hall. My cast and I talked about the acute isolation felt by the Capitol Hill shooter, those who commit suicide and the hikikomori - adolescents and young adults in Japan who withdraw from society.
 
I struggle to connect those who are perpetually on orange alert with happy drumming. How can I create a music that is both relevant and pleasurable? In Ji Mo, my collaborators and I go beyond the comforting heartbeat of the drums to explore the distress signals of memory and loss. Through this ceremony, we can hopefully come together and feel a bit less lonely.

Press Quotes
"Seattle's Byron Au Yong brings a highly visual theatricality."

"Taiko is often about loud, rapid drumming that thrills audiences with its physicality. But Portland Taiko takes a different tack with a new work on its upcoming concert... Ji Mo: The Stillness of Solitude by Byron Au Yong is a healing meditation."