Ken Koshio was born in Nagoya, Japan. As a singer
and songwriter, he brings his wish for hope and new beginnings to the
people of his adopted country, the United States, since 1998. He was a
folk rock musician in Los Angeles for 7 years. After 9-11-2001, Ken felt
a need to bring some measure of comfort to people affected by the Twin
Towers tragedy. This wish translated itself into the Thousand Cranes
Tour, which culminated in a concert at Ground Zero on the one-year
anniversary. He brought 10,000 origami cranes that American people
folded on the road from LA to NY on old route 66, as prayers for a
better, more peaceful world!
In 2004, he moved to Phoenix and he
started to play Japanese music more. Because he identified himself as
Japanese in his spirit, and since he met many people in the US who
admired Japanese culture, and arts, he blended his own culture with his
Rock’n Roll career. Beating taiko for the first time in Phoenix he
realized this tradition was in his DNA. It has brought him to be the
multi-faceted performer he is now.
He has WA arts and music classes
(Japanese traditions) in his dojo (studio) and goes to many public
schools in Arizona to share Japanese culture with younger generations
using origami, calligraphy, folk tales, folk music, taiko, and other
Japanese instruments.
Ken works with a group of Native American
artists collaborating with their dance, music, drumming and singing. He
tours Japan with several Native American artists to create new exchanges
in this global age (Being part of Native Trail directed by six times
world champion hoop dancer Derrick Suwaima Davis, collaboration with
Derrick and Ryon Polequaptewa as Hopi to WA etc).
His talents are
not limited to music but include creating stage shows, events and
projects to facilitate understanding of cultural perspectives (Thousand
Cranes Tour since 2002, Hiroshima Calling since 2008, Sakura no Ne since
2012 etc). We know that music and art are one of the great tools to
communicate between cultures and languages. In 2013 Ken went to India to
be a special guest of a world music orchestra, which set a Guinness
World Record.
Obtained a certified teaching license of Hiroshima
Jidaiko(indigenous Taiko drum) from the Hiroshima Preservation Society.
Ken Koshio is the first person who are in outside of Japan with this
license. Ken trained by his master, Mr. Munakata who is a survivor of
Hiroshima bombing.
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