About me
Shoji Kameda (he/him) is a Grammy nominated musician, composer and producer. He started playing taiko at the age of 8 and has played continuously since. He was selected through a highly competitive process as an Asian Pacific Performance Exchange fellow, collaborating with master artists from the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the USA. He was also selected as an Indonesian Arts Exchange fellow which sent him and three other master arts to central Java for three weeks to teach and perform. Collaborations with international artists have taken Shoji to Malaysia, French Guiana, Mongolia and Bali.
He composed the original score for Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story, Audience Award winner for Best Documentary at the Slamdance Film Festival. He was featured in the music of the hit NBC TV show “Heroes” performed with Stevie Wonder at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and received a Grammy nomination with jazz fusion band Hiroshima for his work on their album Legacy. In 2010 he collaborated with award winning puppet filmmaker Sam Koji Hale to create music for the short film Yamasong, which won first prize as the Best Animated Film at the Dragon Con film festival. As a founding member of On Ensemble and the group’s primary creative force he produced On Ensemble’s critically acclaimed albums Dust and Sand, Ume in the Middle and Bizarre Heroes. In 2013 On Ensemble became the first North American taiko group to be invited to perform at the National Theater of Japan for their prestigious “Nihon no Taiko” series. Shoji is sought after for workshops, masterclasses and compositions and travels around the world teaching and collaborating and performing. His compositions for taiko are performed by groups around the world.
In 2014 Shoji partnered with Miyamoto Unosuke Shoten to create kaDON, an online venture dedicated to making high quality instruction, repertoire and instruments accessible to the entire taiko world. Shoji produces online instructional courses, creates repertoire for the taiko world and supports and empowers projects and taiko events around the world. Through kaDON Shoji uses his passion and expertise to expand the world wide taiko community and empower taiko players around the world.
