Crespi Taiko Plans Spring Recital

ENCINO, CA – Rehearsals are well underway for the 2012 Celt Taiko Spring Concert featuring over thirty musicians and students of the high-energy Celt Taiko Ensemble.  The public is invited to attend the performance at 7 P.M. on Saturday evening, May 19, 2012. The performance will feature traditional, contemporary, and original selections by the beginning, advanced, and performance level students of Crespi Carmelite High School.  Crespi’s Celt Taiko ensemble is the only high school-based group of its kind in the United States.  

In a departure from previous years, the concert will move from the Crespi campus in Encino to St. Bernardine’s Parish Hall in Woodland Hills.  “We wanted to expand the acoustic and theatrical possibilities for this performance,” explains Celt Taiko Ensemble Director Blaine O’Brien, “to create a more dynamic experience for both the players and the audience.”                  

Planning for the popular annual event started in January following a successful winter performance on the Encino campus.  Recently, fifteen Celt Taiko students returned from a four-day trip to Northern California where they gave a featured performance at Ghirardelli Square and attended workshops and programs at the San Francisco Japantown Cherry Blossom Festival. 

Proceeds from the concert will be used to refurbish the chu-daiko and odaiko drums, the principal instruments used by the group.  Advance tickets are $13.00 for adults, $8.00 for students (Kids under 12 Free) and may be purchased from any Celt Taiko student or by contacting the Crespi main office at (818) 345-1672.  Located near White Oak Avenue and Ventura Boulevard in Encino and founded in 1959, Crespi is a non-profit, Catholic, four-year, college preparatory school serving the needs of over six-hundred young men with a diverse curriculum of academics, athletics, art, and music.