Ger Tysk

About the Artist

Ger Tysk is a Japanese bamboo flute player and taiko drummer performing, recording, and teaching bamboo flute and taiko throughout Maine and New England. She has performed and recorded solo as well as with traditional Japanese drumming ensembles, classical instruments, and rock and pop musicians. She is a founding member and artistic director of the Japanese taiko ensemble ShinDaiko, based in Boston.

Ger began her musical studies in classical piano at the age of five and classical Western flute at the age of eight. She also studied conducting and drum major technique under drum and bugle corps leader George N. Parks. She joined Greater Boston-based taiko group Odaiko New England as a student and apprentice under Mark H Rooney, and has furthered her taiko studies with Art Lee (Nagano Prefecture, Japan) and Kaoru Watanabe (New York City).

Playing taiko is a unique opportunity for Ger to meld her background as a classical musician with North American taiko's deep roots in community activism and Asian-American identity. Besides performing and recording, she further connects to the taiko community as a volunteer and committee chair for Taiko Community Alliance.