Founders of Taikoz and the ACO’s Aiko Goto will be recognised at a ceremony tonight at the Japanese Consul-General’s residence.

The co-founders of contemporary Australian taiko ensemble Taikoz, Shakuhachi Grand Maser Riley Lee and Ian Cleworth, will be honoured with a Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation for their contribution towards promoting friendship and goodwill between Australia and Japan. The awards will be presented at an official ceremony, marking the 40th anniversary of the 1976 signing of the Basic Treaty of Friendship and Co-operations between Australia and Japan, which will be held tonight at the Japanese Consul-General’s residence in Bellevue Hill. Popular Australian Chamber Orchestra violinist Aiko Goto, who has been a member of the orchestra since 1998 and performs regularly in Australia and Japan, will also be honoured for her contributions to the promotion of musical exchanges between the two countries.

^{Taikoz co-founder Riley Lee}

“My shakuhachi teachers in Japan, were they still alive, would be very gratified to hear of this honour, but not because one of their students received a commendation,” said Lee, who became the first non-Japanese person to attain the rank of dai shihan or Grand Master in 1980 and founded the Australian Shakuhachi Society in 1996. “My teachers would be pleased because this award from the Japanese government is recognition that the shakuhachi tradition, and of course the taiko, is thriving outside of Japan. I look forward to the time when the students of our own Australian-based students also receive such recognition.”

^{Taikoz co-founder Ian Cleworth}

Lee and Cleworth – who was the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Percussionist for 20 years – co-founded Taikoz in 1997. “Having our contribution recognised in this way is truly a great honour,” said Cleworth. “Australia’s non-Indigenous musical history is a rich tapestry of instruments, sounds, techniques and traditions that originally came from other parts of the world, and twenty years ago, Riley and I had a dream to gather together a group of dedicated musicians that could create and perform original, new music for the Japanese taiko and shakuhachi.”

^{Violinist Aiko Goto}

The Commendations will be awarded to 12 individuals and three groups, including Koto Master Satsuki Odamura, fashion designer Akira Isogawa and the pop culture event SMASH!

Taikoz, who were among the 62 organisations defunded in the “Black Friday” Australia Council funding round earlier this year, released a statement in their newsletter congratulating Lee and Cleworth. “As an organisation, we find it ironic that in the same year our Artistic Director and co-founder Riley Lee are being commended by the Japanese Government for their service to art and culture, our peak arts body the Australia Council has chosen to defund Taikoz and put its future at risk. We ask you, our supporters and friends, to applaud and be proud of Ian and Riley, as we are, on this most auspicious occasion.”