Alumni Instructors

Anselm Krause

Anselm Krause has been an avid musician and martial artist from a young age. While training in Aikido, he was introduced to Taiko at a Dojo party and was hooked. From 2011-2013, Anselm was given a chance to start playing Taiko where he learned under Jason Osajima, David Wells, and Elizabeth Ishida. Once committing to the Univeristy of California, Riverside for his academic studies, he joined Senryu Taiko and remained active until 2017 when he graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Geology. Currently, Anselm is an active Aikidoist and Taiko player in Whittier, CA and spends his time playing music, video games, and pondering about rocks and fault lines.

Al Dupont

Al Dupont is an Alumni from Senryu Taiko (Gen 15); having played taiko with them from 2012 to 2014. He was Born in Bangkok, Thailand, but was raised in Southern California.

As a U.S. Air Force Veteran and Martial artist, he has extensive Martial Arts experience – 3rd degree black belt, Shorin Ryu Karate, Kung Fu, Muay Thai, and kickboxing. Altogether he has 15 years of military experience.

His Hobbies and interests include videography, technology, computers, film/tv, stunt performance/driving, and fight choreography.

Gloria Kum

A Bakuhatsu alumni (GEN 14), and a current member of PROTA, Gloria Kum received a B.A. from UC Davis in Music Composition, and a minor in Education. She has experience in flute, samba percussion, samulnori, gamelan, and marching band.

Alongside with music, she is also a passionate graphic designer who is seen actively creating artworks in the taiko community.

Fun fact: Her High school mascot is a unicorn.

Declined to present photo.

Ashton Culbertson

Majoring in Music: Composition, Ashton Culbertson has been playing percussion for over 10 years. He started to explore different styles of percussion after high school and began with taiko his freshman year of college at UCR. Throughout his Senryu experience, he's written two concert pieces, multiple parade cadences, as well as mini jams and the background soundtrack for Senryu's 2015 concert, The Kaiju that Loved to Drum, which can be found here: "The Kaiju That Loved To Drum [OST]: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbBN3YzdM3mxqKTJFPZYqWudjaFprAz3c" In the future, he hopes to write soundtracks for media. In his free time, Ashton loves to skate and spend time with his dog.

Declined to present photo.

Chelsey Calingo

Chelsey Calingo is an alumni of University of California, Riverside, Class of 2016, and has completed her B.S. in Mathematics - Computational. She first started with taiko through the Taiko Ensemble class offered at UCR, directed by Reverend Tom Kurai, and then seeing that Senryu existed on campus she decided to join and became a member during her last two years at UCR. In her free time she loves to read, play Monster Hunter, watch movies, and travel. Currently, she works in the education field as an Academic Case Manager in San Bernardino, helping to empower the youth by teaching them important life skills and tutoring them in math.

Doug Sakamoto

Doug grew up in San Jose, California and began playing taiko in the San Jose Junior Taiko program when he was eight years old. After graduating high school he felt lucky and fortunate to be able continue playing taiko at UC Irvine with Jodaiko for 5 years. Doug is now a performing member with TAIKOPROJECT and a member of PROTA Taiko and still loves every minute playing taiko with his friends.

Devin Tani

Devin Tani is a co-instructor and member of Naruwan Taiko in San Diego. He is a fourth generation Japanese American drummer with 15 years of experience in various styles of percussion. His passion for percussion started with concert drums, drew him to success as Drum Major in marching band, and culminated with his move to taiko. At UC Irvine, he was drawn to taiko and joined Jodaiko, one of the oldest collegiate taiko groups in North America. Devin’s background and passion for musical theory have led to his interest in exploring Western techniques in the context of North American taiko.

Jason Junio

My name is Jason Junio! I had performed with Senryu Taiko from the years 2013-2017, assuming Presidency and Directorship in my last two. I had an interest in learning taiko to explore a new realm of musical performance, and had eventually grown to love sharing the art of kumidaiko and its cultural importance with the world through workshops on and off campus. I hope that with our workshop, we are able to help give a clearer understanding of teaching taiko to people of all levels, and to make learning more about this art more inviting and exciting!

Alexander Oakland

Alexander Oakland performed with Senryu Taiko from 2011-2016, and with Kishin Daiko from 2017 to the present day. He was the internal director of Senryu Taiko in 2013, an instructor at Origami Club from 2012-2016, a tutor for math in high school, and has a true passion for teaching in general. Being constantly put into various teaching positions ever since middle school, Alexander has picked up a few tricks along the way to help his students and peers understand tricky concepts, and to try and make the learning experience fun for both sides. Whether you are an aspiring teacher, looking to understand the basics of teaching, or just a student trying to better their own understanding of the teacher’s position, everyone has something to gain from learning how to teach Taiko!

Kevin Chen

Kevin has been a student of winds for more than 10 years, but in the last 4 years, he has dedicated himself entirely to shinobue and shakuhachi. In contrast to a melody-driven approach to winds, Kevin endeavors to stay true to the breath-first philosophy of his teacher, the virtuoso iconoclast zen pedagogue breath wizard Cornelius Shinzen Boots.

Charlotte Kane

Charlotte Kane is an alumni of Senryu Taiko, where she served as a performing member for three years. While a part of Senryu, she was given the honor of several leadership roles, including Treasurer and Performance Director. She is the author of two kumidaiko songs, “Kataki” and “Kintsukuroi”. While on a temporary hiatus from kumidaiko, she still practices and plans return to the art again in time.

Joshua Yoon

Josh Yoon is currently a 5th year PhD graduate student in Applied Physics at Stanford University. He was a member of Stanford Taiko for 4 years (2013-2017), played rhythm guitar in Yacc, a rock band in college, and was trained as a classical violinist for 12 years. Soloing and composing are what he's most passionate about and hopes his workshop will be useful for other taiko players wanting to improve in either of these areas.

Patrick Cruz

Born in Chalan Pago-Ordot, Guam, Patrick Cruz moved to the United States at the age of two years old. Throughout high school, Patrick was involved in various music programs, the most influential being the Pacific Crest Drum & Bugle Corps.

With trumpet in hand, Patrick spent years appreciating the melodic aspects of music before commencing his journey as a professional percussionist.

Continuing his high school musical training, Patrick set his sights on collegiate studies, where he became a performing member of Jishin Taiko, Cal State University, Northridge’s competition taiko group. As part of the Jishin Taiko ensemble, he performed not only at CSUN, but the surrounding community, serving to entertain and educate about traditional Japanese culture and arts.

A year after being accepted by Jishin Taiko, he became president of the student organization. When his time as student president came to an end, Patrick made multiple guest appearances with the renowned Los Angeles based taiko group, Makoto Taiko. By popular demand, Patrick continues to make guest appearances within various ensembles throughout the Los Angeles area.

Clara Takahashi

Clara started playing taiko with UCLA's Kyodo Taiko in 2012, and served as Kyodo's director for the 2014-2015 year. She began playing with San Francisco Taiko Dojo during the summers starting in 2013, joining them as a performing member after graduating from UCLA in 2016. She is excited to be returning for her second Invitational as an alumni instructor, and would like to thank Senryu for all their hard work hosting this year! Ganbaruzo!

Francesca "Franny" Cao

Franny is a UCR and Senryu Alumni who served as Senryu's Costume Manager from 2016-2017. Passionate about Japanese art and culture, she sought to bring together traditional designs and contemporary fashion in taiko. She recently graduated in Fall of 2017 with a B.S. in Chemistry, and now works in Research and Development at FMK Labs formulating and color matching cosmetics products. Franny enjoys going to DIsneyland, planning food adventures, and lives truly as a Capricorn.

Audrey Tu and Anthony On

After getting their start with Senryu Taiko at UC Riverside, Audrey and Anthony continued practicing and performing taiko with various groups, including TAIKOPROJECT, Prota, and Kishin Daiko. In addition to performing, Audrey is part of the instructional staff of TAIKOPROJECT Academy as a youth beginning instructor. They are excited to return to their roots to share what they have learned in their post-collegiate pursuits!

David Mcknight

Beginning in 2010 with Senryu Taiko, David McKnight has played and loved taiko ever since he started. During his time with Senryu, he took the role of Practice Director in 2012 and followed as Performance Director in 2013. He has also composed several songs and transition pieces for the group. David has a passion for teaching and sharing his love for the art form with others, he is particularly fond of revisiting and perfecting the fundamentals of taiko to better himself and others around him.

Joel Mankey

Information Unavailable.

Google Sites

Report abuse