Shoji Kameda is a fourth-generation

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...

musician and composer, and leading player of North American taiko. He is a founder and member of On Ensemble, a contemporary taiko quartet, and a former member of the jazz fusion group

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

Personal life

Kameda was born on May 1, 1976, in San Jose, California. He grew up in Mt. Shasta, California and attended Mt. Shasta High School. He graduated from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1999 with a B.A. in History and currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Emi Yoshimura.

Taiko

Kameda started playing taiko when he was 8 years-old. His first teachers were Russell Baba and Jeanne Mercer, former students of Seiichi Tanaka and members of San Francisco Taiko Dojo. Kameda and friend, Masato Baba, were two of the original members of Shasta Taiko, one of North America's earliest children's taiko groups. Both Kameda and Baba were featured in the video documentary, "Shasta Taiko", winner of the 16th annual National Cable ACE Award in cultural affairs. Soon after enrolling at Stanford in the fall of 1994, Kameda joined

Stanford Taiko Stanford Taiko is a collegiate taiko group based at Stanford University. One of the first collegiate taiko groups to form in North America, it was founded in the winter of 1992 by students Ann Ishimaru and Valerie Mih as a way to share taiko with ...

where he was a member from 1994 to 1996 and 1997 to 1999, taking a gap year during the 1996/1997 academic year to study with Kenny Endo in Honolulu, Hawai'i and perform with the Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble. Once back at Stanford, he served as artistic director and composer for Stanford Taiko. In 1998, Kameda was a driving force behind the group's ability to present their first concert of all original compositions. Following his graduation from Stanford, Kameda played briefly with San Jose Taiko, then moved to Japan in 2000 for two years to study traditional

Japanese music In Japan, music includes a wide array of distinct genres, both traditional and modern. The word for "music" in Japanese is 音楽 (''ongaku''), combining the kanji 音 ''on'' (sound) with the kanji 楽 ''gaku'' (music, comfort). Japan is the world ...

. While there he studied ''hogaku hayashi'' with Saburo Mochitsuki, ''edo bayashi'' with Kyosuke Suzuki, and played ''kumidaiko'' with Nihon Taiko Dojo. While in Japan, Kameda, Masato Baba, and Kris Bergstrom performed in Hakodate in August 2001, planting the seed that was to become "on Ensemble", the group currently composed of Kameda, Baba, Bergstrom, and

Kelvin Underwood Kelvin Underwood (born March 22, 1975) is an American musician specializing in the drum set and taiko, the art of Japanese drumming. After joining the Japanese taiko ensemble Ondekoza at age 19, he returned to the United States four years later ...

. In 2005, Kameda produced the ensemble's first CD, ''Dust and Sand'' which was met with critical acclaim. In 2009, he produced ''Ume in the Middle'', a recording noted for its "boundless imagination" with "truly interesting and innovative" tracks . Since 2004 Kameda has toured and recorded with the jazz fusion group

. Their latest release, ''Legacy'', was nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award. Kameda has been active in a number of other projects as well. In 2008, Kameda appeared with

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

at the

2008 Democratic National Convention The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for president and vice president. The conventi ...

. In 2009, he worked with Khoomei Taiko Ensemble, appearing at the Kennedy Center and at the Earshot Jazz Festival in Seattle

Studio Work

Kameda's studio credits include ''Heroes Original Television Score'', produced by Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman and ''Calling All Dawns'', produced by Christopher Tin.

Film Work

Kameda composed and performed the score for '' Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story'' . In 2010, he partnered with Sam Hale on the film ''Yamasong'', produced by Heather Henson and shown at the Florida Film Festival; the film garnered awards for Best Fantasy Short Film and Best Animated Film at the 2010 Dragon*Con Independent Film Festival.

Awards and honors

In 2006 Kameda was selected to participate in the Asia Pacific Performance Exchange (APPEX) at UCLA's Center for Intercultural Performance and appeared in "one of the most perfectly realized group pieces". In 2009 Kameda was again recognized by the Center for Intercultural Performance and chosen to be a U.S. Fellow to Indonesia

Works

* ''God of Love'', Stereo Alchemy, 2012 * ''Yamasong'', Sam Hale. 2010. * ''Ume in the Middle'', On Ensemble. Turtlefield Music, 2009. * ''Calling All Dawns'', Christopher Tin, 2009. * ''Legacy'', Hiroshima. Heads Up, 2009. * ''Heroes Original Television Score''. La-La Land Records, 2009. * ''Little Tokyo'', Hiroshima. Heads Up, 2007. * ''Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story''. Safari Media, 2006. * ''Dust and Sand'', On Ensemble, 2005. * ''Obon'', Hiroshima. Heads Up, 2005.