Drumming up a storm

The young musicians of the Ju Percussion Group, suited up in black formals and smiling politely as they walk onto the NCPA stage, didn’t seem capable of what they will shortly do — get to work on the 5,000 kg worth of percussion instruments with hands and drumsticks like there’s no tomorrow.

They bang, clang, yell, dance, act and slap their way through an 80-minute performance which includes Bollywood medleys and songs from the soundtrack of Slumdog Millionaire. Their performance is raucous, joyful, and leaves the audience stunned. The instruments are both Eastern and Western, with marimbas, xylophones and some drums being used to full capacity.

But what united the seemingly incongruous musical arrangements was the controlled energy — producing an experience which had the audience clapping wildly, and children walking out of the hall imitating their new idols.

The packed houses and standing ovations that greeted their show, ‘Heartbeat of Taiwan’ in Mumbai and Delhi last week would have hardly surprised the members of the Ju Percussion Group, for they have drumming successfully in Taiwan and all over the world for over a quarter of a century.

Their artistic director, Ju Tzong-ching, is a pioneer in the percussion field. “It was not long after my return from music studies in Vienna that I started my percussion group in 1986.”
“We’ve encountered many frustrations over the years,” 57-year-old Ju says. “But with the support and encouragement of audiences, we’ve made the impossible possible.”

Ju first encountered percussion music when he played in the brass band of his local high school. He became an accomplished wind musician, but it was the ‘supporting’ percussion instruments that caught Ju’s fancy. He soon dropped out of formal education and began to pursue percussion music full-time.

They celebrated their silver anniversary last January with two memorable concerts in Taipei, featuring the Taiwanese First Lady Chou Mei-ching as the surprise guest performer during the rendition of two encore pieces, ‘Love Story’ and ‘Body Language’.
Ju has recently ventured into teaching very young children in Taipei the same skills that inspired him as a child. It was in the 1970s that the initial interest in music began, thanks to Taiwan’s booming economy and maturing cultural identity. Around this time children began to be sent — sometimes forcefully — to learn music, remembers Ju.

“It became a painful process for them,” he says. “I want to bring back the enjoyment a child can naturally get from music.”