Our team currently has 19 active members! For those of you who have been to our earth-shattering-heart-pounding performances and have ever wondered things like "Who ARE these people??" or "What do they STUDY?" or the most popular "Who is that tiny girl in the front that kicks a** like none other?!?", here are some member bios that might help answer your questions!

Eva Kestner

eva

Position: first musical director
Class of: 2009
Major: Philosophy
Height: 4'11"
Weapon of choice: Bachi
Pet peeve: Haruki
Lacks: A life outside taiko.
Member since: Sept 2006


Her musical career started when she was six years old when she started to take piano lessons. When she was eight, she started taking taiko drumming lessons with her mother and sister. Today, she is continuing to take lessons every winter and summer when she goes back to her home in Tokyo, Japan. Her taiko director, Masataka Kobayashi is now a renowned professional drummer of the group, Bonten.

When she came to Cornell, she decided to join the Cornell University Percussion Ensemble under Director James Armstrong. In the beginning of her sophomore year, her friends were expressing interest in creating a taiko drumming group in Cornell and so she gladly took the role as Musical Director of Yamatai. Yamatai’s current repertoire consists of pieces composed by Masataka Kobayashi and she wishes to incorporate more pieces into Yamatai’s program by composing original pieces for the group.

She is majoring in philosophy, but her academic interests lie in many areas such as German, music, aesthetics, and cognitive science. One of her lifetime goals is to pursue a project that combines philosophy of art and performance arts.

She thanks Masataka Kobayashi for his enthusiastic support for Yamatai. She is also thankful for her family for their love and encouragement.

Haruki Yukawa

haruki

Position: Founder
Class of: 2009
Major: Computer Science
Favorite activities: Fighting over Louie's Lunch, Apollo Chinese food, and/or Wingz with his fraternity brothers
Thinks he's too good to: Help the rest of the team clean up
Member since: Sept 2006


Haruki was born in March 6, 1987 in the backwater prefecture of Toyama, Japan. After following his then-graduate student mother in her academic career to Hawaii and then Stockholm, he settled down in the city of Kyoto at the age of 11. After spending his middle and highschool years in the Japanese school system, he came to Cornell in the fall semester of 2005.

During Haruki's first year in the United States, the racially diverse environment of Cornell awakened a strong sense of ethnic pride that was dormant deep inside him, which in turn led to the founding of his own taiko drumming group. He also involved himself in multiple Asian cultural (or international) student-ran organizations. Especially among these, his involvement in JUSA (Japan U.S. Association) and Pi Delta Psi Fraternity Inc. (an Asian Interest Cultural Fraternity) served a crucial role in providing him the necessary network, resources, and moral support to found Yamatai. He is deeply grateful for the warm friendship of fellow JUSA members, and the stronger-than-blood brotherhood of his fraternity brothers.

A competitive judo wrestler since age 9, his sports of choice are martial arts, primarily judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and boxing. During his free time (which is growing more and more precious due to both his academics and involvement in student organizations), he enjoys lifting weights at the Helen Newman Hall gym, listening to hip-hop, partying hard, and spending quality time with his close friends and brothers.

Tang Sindhuseka

tang

Position: Miki's No. 1 Fan
Class of: 2009
Major: Nutritional Sciences - Didactic Program in Dietetics
Height: 163cm (Yes, I use the metric system!)
Favorite Foods: Starbucks' tall nonfat caramel macciato, Asian food of all kinds, any dessert that contains chocolate.
Member since: Sept 2006


I was born and raised in Nonthaburi, Thailand where I attended an international school since kindergarten. It was during high school where I had my first experience with Taiko when the Japanese Club performed the "soranbushi" dance and collaborated taiko with dancing during the performace. I was extremely intrigued by the performance, but never expected myself to become a taiko player myself as I currently am now.

Other than Taiko, I have played the Flute for 10 years and started playing the Japanese flute last summer to enhance our taiko performances. Other than Yamatai, I am currently part of Cornell University Wind Symphony and participated in the flute ensemble. Evidently, music is a very big part of my life. I hope that in the near future I will master the Japanese flute and become skilled with Taiko...and hopefully look as cool as Eva when playing it!



Ken Stern

ken

Position: former treasurer
Class of: 2009
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Role Model: Taigen O
Favorite Activities: Studying, Reading
Least Favorite Activity: Writing my own bio.
Favorite Pickup Line: "I'm an engineer."
Member since: Sept 2006


Ken is a man of few words.
















Jiha Lee

Class of: 2009
Member since: 2007

Ding Kong

ding

Position: Height leader in lightweight lanky-limb team
Class of: 2008
Major: Natural Resources
Height: 6'0"
Interested in: Revolutionary-anarchist-feminist-anti-imperialist-environmentalist-cultural work, and cooking.
Hometowns: Los Angeles, Germany, and Xi'An China
Future plans: Oakland Teaching Fellows, starting June.
Favorite foods: Brown rice from the pressure cooker, Dal, kale, limes, YouBing, JiaoZi, and HuoGuo.
Favorite drill: Anything that makes the left hand feel like it got run over by a truck.
Member since: Oct 2007








Daniel Chang

dan

Position: Now a NYC Teaching Fellow
Class of: 2007
Major: Anthropology, Asian Studies
Height: 5'10"
Weapon of choice: Pop Quiz
Pet peeve: Writing in the third person
Lacks: Money, Sleep
Member since: 2007


I was born and raised in central Connecticut and I spent five months in Japan for a study abroad program while I was a junior at Cornell. It was in Tokyo that I saw my first Taiko performance. The intensity of the drummers, the powerful resonant beating, and the vibrations I felt take over my body got me hooked on Taiko. I began to pursue it but due to my circumstances, I could not play in Japan. Luckily though, after I returned to Cornell, I learned that a Taiko group was going to start up. That, in conjunction with an inspiring performance by the Brown Taiko group, reignited my desire to pursue drumming. Finally, I was able to join during the spring semester and it has easily been one of the best decisions I made while I was at Cornell.

Two days after I graduated, I moved to New York City and a week later, I was on the job. I am currently a NYC Teaching Fellow and will be teaching math and music at an international high school in the South Bronx.

Some frequently asked questions:
Why are you doing NYCTF? I want to make a difference for students who haven't necessarily had a fair shot.
What do you love most about your job so far? The students.
Do you have a life outside of teaching? Not really...
Can I come visit? Of course you can!!!
Will you ever come back to Ithaca? Most definitely.
Are you going to continue Taiko? I hope to once I get settled in.
Do you have plans to go back to Japan? Not yet, but I will someday!

Andrew Fleury

andrew

Position: Grad student at Stanford Univ.
Class of: 2007
Major: Asian Studies, Economics
Height: 6'2"
How you can find me: Look for the white guy... or the guy who's head sticks up above everyone else's.
Future taiko thoughts: Planning on joining the team at Stanford when I get there in September (will notify when I do!)
Future goals: Graduate, get some sort of job (teaching or business), pay off education debts (in that order)
Favorite activities: Globe trotting, taiko, mixing music (wants to do a taiko remix!), football (aka. soccer - we play with our feet yo!), studying........
Member since: 2007


I was born and raised in the Bay Area in California, an area with a strong cultural link to various regions of Asia.  Believe it or not, I was actually a minority where I lived (before I moved to Colorado).  As a result, I grew up being exposed to these cultures thereby developing my interest in Asian traditions.  My interest in taiko specifically began when I first learned about the drums, and heard them performed.  I had actually never seen a live performance until Brown Taiko came to Cornell for the 2006 JUSA Culture Show.  After that, I was hooked.  The following year, when Haruki told me he was looking to found a taiko club at Cornell, I  could not wait to join.  Unfortunately, meeting conflicts prevented me from joining until the spring, and since then I've had taiko-fever.

Besides taiko, I am an avid football (read: soccer) player and love mixing music and taking photographs.  At Cornell I was involved in, and led various groups in the international community, including a charity, Operation D.E.E.P., that helps improve education in rural areas of China.  During my free time, I pretty much engage in the above, with the occasional wink of sleep added to the mix.

Now, pass me those bachi!

Emiko Manners

Class of: 2007
Member since: 2006