After seven years with Portland Taiko, Executive Director Wynn Kiyama will retire from his position on August 31, 2022 to pursue new opportunities.
Kiyama joined Portland Taiko midway through 2015 during a time of change and challenges. Under his leadership, the organization rebounded with a new base of operations, record-breaking fundraising campaigns, an influx of regional and state grants, six balanced budgets, strong reserve funds, the construction of a festival float, a gala 25th anniversary celebration, and the winning proposal for hosting the biennial North American Taiko Conference.
In addition to these accomplishments, Kiyama developed the vision for “Sound in Motion” with TaikoProject (2016), “Taiko Together” with four Portland-based taiko groups (2017), “Sticks and Strings” with a commission by Kenji Bunch and Fear No Music (2018), the 25th anniversary concert with Tiffany Tamaribuchi, Kenny Endo, and the Kalabharathi School of Dance (2019), and the concert video “Orient, Oregon” with No-No Boy (2020). He curated the museum exhibit “Making Waves: Portland Taiko’s 25th Anniversary” at the Japanese Museum of Oregon, taught online classes during the pandemic, and guided the group back to in-person activities with the development of hybrid stands for tire taiko with engineer Richard Koyama.
“The strength and growth of Portland Taiko can be credited to Wynn’s clarity of vision and thoughtful strategic planning,” says Board Co-President Carolyn Saiget. “He is a dedicated leader who has brought innovative programming, numerous grant acquisitions, new audiences, and helped establish Portland Taiko’s presence in the community.”
For questions on the transition, please contact Lynn Grannan at lynn@portlandtaiko.org. View the full press release here.