Shoji Kameda is a fourth-generation Japanese American musician and composer, and leading player of North American

taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming ...

. He is a founder and member of On Ensemble, a contemporary taiko quartet, and a former member of the jazz fusion group Hiroshima.

Personal life

Kameda was born on May 1, 1976, in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

. He grew up in

Mt. Shasta, California Mount Shasta (also known as Mount Shasta City) is a city in Siskiyou County, California, at about above sea level on the flanks of Mount Shasta, a prominent northern California landmark. The city is less than southwest of the summit of its na ...

and attended Mt. Shasta High School. He graduated from Stanford University 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 is the first Japan-trained teacher of kumidaiko, or taiko, in the United States and is largely regarded as the father of the art form in North America. Early life Tanaka was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1943 and immigrated to the United States in 19 ...

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 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 Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, 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. 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. 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 Hiroshima. Their latest release, ''Legacy'', was nominated for a 2009

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

. Kameda has been active in a number of other projects as well. In 2008, Kameda appeared with Stevie Wonder 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 convent ...

. In 2009, he worked with Khoomei Taiko Ensemble, appearing at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

and at the Earshot Jazz Festival in Seattle

Studio Work

Kameda's studio credits include ''Heroes Original Television Score'', produced by

Wendy Melvoin Wendy Ann Melvoin (born January 26, 1964) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Prince as part of his backing band The Revolution, and for her collaboration with Lisa Coleman as one half of the duo Wendy ...

and Lisa Coleman and ''Calling All Dawns'', produced by

Christopher Tin Christopher Chiyan Tin (born May 21, 1976) is an American composer of art music, often composed for film and video game soundtracks. His work is primarily orchestral and choral, often with a world music influence. He has won two Grammy Aw ...

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 Dragon Con (previously Dragon*Con and sometimes DragonCon) is a North American List of multigenre conventions, multigenre convention, founded in 1987, which takes place annually over the Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia ...

Independent Film Festival.

Awards and honors

In 2006 Kameda was selected to participate in the Asia Pacific Performance Exchange (APPEX) at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

'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.