The 92037 ZIP code is more than 5,500 miles from Tokyo, but a performing troupe rooted in La Jolla is bringing an ancient Japanese drumming practice to various parts of San Diego.
The drum ensemble La Jolla Taiko was founded at La Jolla Country Day School more than a decade ago to bring the “mentally therapeutic, physically demanding and really fun” percussion art to the local region. The group still rehearses on the campus.
Taiko, which means “drum” in Japanese, is a form of high-energy, choreographed percussion on large drums with sticks called bachi.
With the Lunar New Year coming this month, La Jolla Taiko will perform at SeaWorld San Diego as part of its annual celebration, with shows scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 7-8, and Friday through Monday, Feb. 13-16.
Lunar New Year, celebrated Feb. 17-27 this year, will usher in the Year of the Horse.
Earlier this year, La Jolla Taiko performed at Legoland California in Carlsbad as part of its NinjaGo Weekends and plans to play at the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego’s Balboa Park and at various company and community events in 2026.
The La Jolla Taiko performance troupe is playing during SeaWorld San Diego’s Lunar New Year celebration this month. (La Jolla Taiko)
The group was founded in 2014 by La Jolla Country Day School music teacher Chad Przymus, blending traditional drumming with global and contemporary influences. Its umbrella organization, the Ōnami Taiko Center, offers workshops, classes and performance opportunities for all experience levels.
“We believe taiko checks a lot of boxes for a lot of people,” Przymus said. “It is mentally therapeutic, physically demanding and really fun. It’s also cultural in that …. taiko has been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. It was used in religious festivals, and villages used taiko to communicate messages. Samurai would use it to intimidate the enemy in battle.”
Przymus discovered taiko more than 20 years ago. “I was a percussionist at the time and was also very much involved in martial arts, so [taiko] was my two favorite things colliding,” he said.
He wanted to establish La Jolla Taiko to share his love of the art form with others.
“Taiko is hard for me to practice by myself because the joy is playing with other people and creating something important,” Przymus said. “We started as a small group and are now a thriving community hub with classes for all ages and levels, workshops with guest artists and performing in venues across San Diego.”
Students as young as 5 and others in their 80s participate.
During classes, players learn how to position their bodies to have the most impact on the drum, which Przymus said contributes to the physical aspect of performing.
“Playing taiko is a fusion of music, culture and martial arts,” he said. “We shape our body a certain way to play the drum in the most efficient way that creates the best sound.”
The resulting performances “impact people,” Przymus said.
“We pride ourselves on being really energetic and sometimes we have pieces that are very intense in volume and speed,” he said. “We talk a lot about what we want the audiences to feel, so it’s more than just the rhythms.
“Taiko is as much visual as it is musical. Choreography is created with the arms and the bachi. There is synchronicity you see with the players. They are absorbed by the visual aspect as well.”
To find out more and see the troupe’s performance schedule, visit lajollataiko.org. ♦