Rachel Ungericht is a music specialist at Kirkersville Elementary School in the Southwest Licking School District. Seventeen of her students, grades one through five, will perform in the Asian Festival as part of the Taiko Honors Ensemble.
The Taiko honors group also includes students from Watkins Middle School, Davis Middle School in the Dublin district and two students from Gahanna. Ungericht says her students and their parents are dedicated. Practices are held weekly at the school and monthly many miles away in Dublin. Five young drummers talked about what they like about Taiko including that fact that the music is loud and fun to perform.
Nicole Charles is in the first year of her doctoral studies in flute performance at Ohio State University. She started playing flute in the fourth grade and eventually became certified to teach the Suzuki method to younger children. She was strongly influenced by Dr. Takeaki Miyamae whom she will accompany this weekend. The Asian Festival is May 28th and 29th at Franklin Park in Columbus.