Gong orchestra coming to Penticton

Percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani will bring his Nakatani Gong Orchestra to Penticton on Aug. 18, one of five stops in B.C.

NGO is a touring experimental sound art project, an ensemble consisting of 14 of Nakatani’s adapted gongs played with his handmade bows.

It is the only bowed gong orchestra in the world. Collaborating with local communities, each stop offers a new set of players who have a technique workshop and practice with Nakatani before performing fresh to a live audience.

Encompassing a wide range of different backgrounds and experience, each performance results in vastly different soundscapes. Through hundreds of performances, thousands of participants and audience members have been involved in creating these transformative art works.

The Penticton performance will be held in the large chapel of St. Saviour’s Church (150 Orchard Ave.), which is known for its generous acoustics.

Tickets for the event are $12 students and seniors and $15 for general admission, available through eventbrite.ca

The tour is courtesy of the Powell Street Festival Society, whose mission is to cultivate Japanese Canadian arts and culture to connect communities.