Marco Lienhard

Marco is the director of both Taikoza and East Winds Ensemble (1995-Present). Marco lived and performed in Japan for 18 years (1981-1998) as a member of the legendary Taiko group Ondekoza under director Tagayasu Den (who instigated the renaissance of Taiko). In Ondekoza, he mastered the Taiko, the Shinobue, the Noh flute and the Shakuhachi under Katsuya Yokoyama (studied also with Teruo Furuya and Tadashi Tajima). He was an invited performer at the First Shakuhachi Festival in Bisei, Japan and performed along with Master Katsuya Yokoyama. Marco specializes in many genres of music and is a Master in Honkyoku (His first CD was a bestseller in Japan). He is working on a Shakuhachi method book available soon.

Lessons are available online and in person. In person lessons are available in Europe, South America, Japan and North America when concerts are happening in those parts of the world; check the schedule on taikoza.com. Marco specializes not only in Honkyoku but Min’yo, Sankyoku and modern music as well.

Marco ran the 9000 miles of the perimeter of the US from 1990-1993 while performing along the way. With his New York based Taikoza, he has toured internationally and presents his top-rated program throughout the country. In addition, he has collaborated with many artists and groups around the world. In 1995, Marco was the Shakuhachi soloist for the NYC Opera’s premiere of the Opera “Kinkakuji” and was a soloist with the Juilliard New Music Ensemble. He also premiered “Voyage X” with the Juilliard New Music Ensemble. Marco performs and teaches internationally (in Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Canada, etc.) and has taught at international percussion workshops and festivals. He has performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall, Osaka Festival Hall, Madison Square Garden, Tchaikovsky Hall, and the International Performing Center in Moscow, among others. His music was nominated five times for the “Just Plain Folks Awards in 2014 and 2019 for best songs, best album for Instrumental and Asian Music”.

Marco recorded music for the award-winning Nintendo Wii games, Red Steel 1 and 2. He has recorded and appeared on more than 20 Shakuhachi, Taiko and Fue CDs, and has recently released two CDs of his own compositions with Taikoza, Voice of the Earth and Tree Spirit. East Winds Ensemble (the Music of Studio Ghibli CDs) has more than 8 million streams on Spotify alone.

Marco’s music can be found on iTunes and on MarcoLienhard.com and Taikoza.com. He was recently invited to the 2018 Shakuhachi Festival in London and Taiko festival in Switzerland. In addition, he is the recipient of many grants and has been invited on concert tours organized by Rockefeller, Carnegie Hall, The Japanese Ministry of Education, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Japan Foundation, LMCC and UMEZ. He has also published a book about the Shinobue (How to learn to Play the Shinobue).