The unconventional, uncontrollable, and uncertain qualities of gong sounds are percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani’s passion. Having played bowed gongs for over ten years, he has toured and performed all over the U.S. and internationally with the instruments in his van, many of which he created himself. While on tour, Nakatani enjoys collaborating with local orchestra crews from the cities he visits.

Nakatani has recently launched the N.G.O. (Nakatani Gong Orchestra), a bold, new project born out of Nakatani's ten years of solo percussionist experience. As a solo performer, both of his hands are occupied by bow or mallet, limiting him to just two gongs. But imagine the wall of sound of ten hands playing ten gongs. That’s the sonic power of N.G.O.

An N.G.O. performance starts with five people on five gong kits, usually 8-10 gongs onstage with Nakatani as the ensemble's conductor. All stands, bows and mallets are assembled or hand-made by Nakatani as an important phase of the composing process of N.G.O. and its music.

The music of N.G.O. creates a metallic temple of deep harmonies. The gongs are bowed and softly struck by mallets to produce sounds that defy musical categorization. A 40-inch large gong creates extreme low-frequency wave forms that cross-vibrate with the tones of the other gongs of varying sizes. The result is a sound which emanates from the deepest frequency pool and is felt in the very depths of the body. N.G.O. is now performing nationwide.

Born and raised in Osaka, Japan, Nakatani currently resides in Easton, PA. He has released over sixty CD recordings in the USA and Europe. Since the late 1990ʼs, he has performed primarily solo percussion across the USA and overseas and has taught master classes at universities as well as holding workshops and lectures.

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Tech required of N.G.O.
5 marimba sized stage area with nice acoustic quiet and subtlety environment.
6-8 Crew member locally called by local organizer and 3 hour minimum workshop to study play gongs.
Crew member can be any profession with sensitivity, respect of the sound/music.


N.G.O. performing histories and crew members :

Wednesday April 13, 2011. St. Louis MO
Alex Childress (pianist)
Maxine du Maine (Percussionist)
Tom Hall (Guitar, drum, clarinet)
Kevin Cheli (Drummer)
Mark Sarich (Cello)

Tuesday April 19, 2011. Bakersfield CA
Amin Kargaran
Alex Sarad
Joee Hubbard
Andrew Morgan
Nick Castro

Monday April 25, 2011. Tucson AZ
Mona Chambers(cello)
Chris Black (multi-instrumentalist and composer, sheet music peddler, gadjo bango)
Sean Rogers (bass)
deVie (Piano)
Vicki Brown (Avant-violinist, Research Methodologist/Psychometrician)

Thursday April 28, 2011. Santa Fe NM
JA Dino Deane (master conductor)
Joseph Sabella (percussionist)
Dave Wayne
Mike Rowland
Michael Smith

Saturday April 30, 2011. Denton TX
Michael Morgan (percussionist, new media artist)
Jon Jackson (percussionist, composer, sound artist)
Martin Back (percussionist, composer, sound artist)
Andrew Jordan Miller (guitarist, composer, computer programmer)
Liz Gilbert (cellist, musicologist)

Sunday May 1 , 2011. Austin TX
Henna Chou (Cello player also work in map making/geographic data)
Sarah Norris (exceptional percussionist, also a library and archives conservationist)
Julie Wang (nursing student and musician: plays violin and bowed bells)
John David Eriksen (cellist, bassist, experimental electronics artist and computer programmer)
Amanda Lewis (plays guitar/cello/etc and also does visual arts/fashion)

Thursday May 4 , 2011. Houston TX
Emmanuel Guajardo
Rebecca Novak
Michelle Yom
Abel Cisneros
Denis Cisneros

Sunday May 8 , 2011. Birmingham AL
Jennifer Caputo
Spencer Leffel
Stephen McClurg
Brad Davis
Thomas Risher
Colin Blanton
Stella Nystrom(Dance)

Monday May 9 , 2011. New Orleans LA
Bill Hunsinger (Bassist)
Donald Miller (Guitarlist)
Helen Gillet (cellist)
Freddy Brink
J. Steigner

Wednesday May 11 , 2011. Mobile AL
Will Fawcett
Zach Depolo
Jimmy Lee
Dan Silver
Sarah Brewer

Thursday May 19 , 2011. Chattanooga TN
Emerson Burch
Jim Pfilzer
Connie Ward
Sydnee Enecks
Daniel Wamp

Saturday May 21 , 2011. Lexington KY
Nicholas Larkey (Merkaba, They Yearn for What They Fear, Ghost Affirmation)
Matt Gibson (Everyone Lives Everyone Wins)
Jonathan Hampton (Everyone Lives Everyone Wins)
Michael Lunsford (Everyone Lives Everyone Wins, Angelmaker)
Mike "The Geek" Bray

Friday June 17, 2011. Philadelphia PA
Eli Litwin
Jacob Mitas
Carolina Maugeri
JJ Tiziou
Anna Drozdowski

Tuesday September 6 , 2011. Easthampton MA
Vic Rawlings (Open circuit electronics player)
Jack Callahan(Percussionist, Composer http://www.mimaroglumusicsales.com/artists/jack+callahan.html)
Andy Crespo (Bassist: BARN OWL, EGGS EGGS, Crespo Schneiderman Duo)
Jake Meginsky (Percussionist)
Chris Dooley (Sound Artist, DJ 12XU)

Saturday September 10 , 2011. Boston MA
Kevin Frenette
Joe Monteiro
Todd Burnel
Matt Samolis
Forbes Graham

Saturday October 1 , 2011. Oberlin OH
Lisa Miralia (noise and improv musician, experimental/improv music director for WCSB Cleveland)
Nate Scheible (percussion and improv musician, project archivist at Oberlin College)
Christian Smith (Oberlin Conservatory Percussionist)
Elizabeth Aubert (Oberlin Conservatory Composer/Noise Musician)
Chris Pierce (Oberlin Conservatory Experimental Musician/ Physicist)

Thursday October 6 , 2011. Bloomington IN
Lee Guth (Percussionist & Psychology professor at Indiana University)
Chris Rall (Saxophonist & computer tech specialist)
Joe Stone (Percussionist & sound engineer at Indiana University)
Ben Fowler (Professional musician--IU graduate in percussion)
Tyler Damon (Professional musician--percussion)

Friday October 7 , 2011. Urbana/Champaign IL
Anna Hochhalter
James Andrew Burton
Brandon Beachum
Austin McCann
Jason Finkelman
Rafter

Tuesday October 11 , 2011. Denver CO
Isaac Linder (conceptual art and improvisation, student of philosophy, and children's library employee)
Rachel Hargroder (Freelance percussionist, concert production and facilities manager at Lamont School of Music, DU)
Luke Wachter (Percussionist and music teacher in the Dever Public Schools)
Michael Kuhr (Percussionist, electronics assembler and shipper, traveler)
Dean Hirschfield (Percussionist, drummer for Faceman, musical instrument dealer)

Saturday October 22 , 2011. Seattle WA
Joy Von Spain (singer & composer, plays keyboard instruments; customer service/warehouse)
Sioux City Pete (bringing about the end of all things via guitar since 1979)
noisepoetnobody (recording artist, sonic improviser, instrument builder and modular analog synth enthusiast)
Dean Moore (Seattle based electro-acoustic percussionist who specializes in music for resonant metals)
Beth Fleenor (composer/improviser, plays clarinets/voice/percussion, engaged creativity advocate)

Sunday October 23 , 2011. Portland OR
Jose Medeles (1939 Ensemble, Breeders)
Neal Morgan (Bill Callahan)
Lisa Schonberg (Explode into Colors)
John Niekrasz (Why I Must Be Careful)

Wednesday October 28 , 2011. Sacramento, CA
Anup Pradhan
John Bafus
John Brumley
Lynda Rivera
Kevin Corcoran
Nathan Beier

Tuesday December 6 , 2011. Minneapolis MN
Jackie Beckey (violist, composer, community arts organizer, Barebones music director)
Kevin Cosgrove (eclectic musician, plays in International Novelty Gamelan, Transitional Species. and The Thaw)
Jonathan Kaiser (cello player and artist)
Adam Patterson (percussionist, linguist, dad)
Jonathan Zorn (composer, improvisor, bassist, electronic musician)

Thursday December 8 , 2011. Chicago IL
Colin Winnette (Author, Artist, Student)
Nathan Staley (Percussionist, Medical Consultant)
Vandana Goel LaClair (writer, filmmaker, collaborator, Human Resources professional)
Claudia Urbano (an interpreter/translator and writer)
Laurel Forest Foglia (student, writer, editor)




Monday December 12 , 2011. Detroit MI
Michael G Nastos (music journalist, 30 year radio host on WEMU)
Leander Johnson (high school student at University of Detroit, music project is called Soldat)
Omar Hamza (broadband network engineer, percussionist)
Josh Ferrel (fabricator)
Kurt Prisbe (percussionist)
Kate Daughdrill (artist, printmaker)

Wednesday December 14 , 2011. Toledo OH
Jason Zeh
Erik Montgomery
Jason Shapiro
John Hubbell
Bianca Marcia Naves

Photo by Golden G. Richard III from New Orleans LA show on May 9, 2011

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