Auditions

No experience needed!

Auditions: Final

Thank you for auditioning! We hope that all of you enjoyed the experience of learning and playing taiko.

The people we will be accepting into Stanford Taiko are:

  • Emily Chen
  • Ava Eberhart
  • Lue Fang
  • Carol Herrera
  • Kanon Homma
  • Sophia Mitsuoka
  • Rhys Ota

We’ll see you next Monday (October 13th) at our standard mandatory practice! Just a reminder, those are Monday and Thursday, 7:45pm to 11:00pm, at Dinkelspiel Auditorium. We also have HLM (humorously long meeting) 7pm to 11pm on Friday night (10/17), along with pre-HLM dinner at FloMo at 6pm. Then, we leave for our weekend-long retreat 10am Saturday, and returning after lunch Sunday. We will discuss overall plans for retreat at HLM.

Thank you to everyone who auditioned! We could tell you all studied Tales intensely, and we’re sad that this process requires us to make difficult choices.

Auditions Information

We would love to have any Stanford student, undergraduate or graduate, interested in Taiko come and audition, regardless of skill level! The majority of Stanford Taiko members auditioned without ever having played taiko before–all you need to bring are comfortable clothes, a water bottle, and your excitement to play taiko! For more information, see our Auditionee’s Packet

If you are interested, please fill out our interest form here.

You might also be interested in our fall open workshop.

Visit our Instagram page to stay up to date on all news.

If you have any questions, please email our auditions team: Kimi Shirai (kshirai@stanford.edu), Kaelan James (kaelan@stanford.edu), and Yuerong Xiao (yuerongx@stanford.edu).

Round 1

Day one of auditions for Stanford Taiko will take place on Monday, September 29th, 7:45 PM – 10 PM in Dinkelspiel Auditorium.

First round audition cuts take place on Wednesday, October 1st, between 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM at Braun Rehearsal Hall. Each auditionee will sign up for a 30-minute slot within this time and only needs to attend their slot, not the full two hours.

Results have been posted above! ↑

Round 2 Information

The mandatory practices for second round auditions will be held at Dinkelspiel Auditorium on:

  • Thursday, October 2nd, 2025: 7:45 pm –> 11:00 pm
  • Monday, October 6th, 2025: 7:45 pm –> 11:00 pm

Punctuality is an important aspect of Stanford Taiko’s culture around respect: Please arrive on time! We will be starting right on time; we made an exception on day 1 to get everyone acquainted with our practice schedule.

Additionally, for those that continue, we will have optional events: antics (hanging out and playing board games) and an additional practice for anyone looking for extra practice time, both on Sunday the 5th. Antics is from 1-4 pm at the Arbor, and optional practice is 4-6 pm at Dinkelspiel Auditorium).

Final Round auditions are held Thursday, October 9th, 2025: 7:45 pm –> 10:20 pm (in Dinkelspiel Auditorium). This is also an opportunity to invite your friends to see what you’ve been working on! Results will be posted by 10 am Friday.

Additionally, for those that join Stanford Taiko, there will be group retreat the weekend after week 4 (18th-19th).