A Symphony in Floorball with Taiko Drums

Photo: Emily Chang

Colorado Springs Youth Symphony Orchestra uses floorball for recreational activities between hardworking sessions of creating wonderful music.

Since 2017, the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony Orchestra has incorporated floorball into their recreational activities at summer camps and at recreational gatherings.  When Wajima Wadaiko Toranosuke visited Colorado Springs to prepare for their joint performance "Echos of Deserts and Mountains" at Carnegie Hall, New York, under the leadership of Conductor and Music Director Gary Nicholson, the participants thoroughly enjoyed playing floorball at Bear Creek Park in Colorado Springs.

Toranosuke is a Taiko drum group from Wajima City in the Ishikawa Prefecture on the north central coast of Japan and has a long track record of cooperation with the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony Orchestra.  Tetsuya Imai, in front of the net in the photo, is Toranosuke's award winning founder and director. Their veteran drummer, Masaaki Ode, to the right in the photo, especially appreciated getting the opportunity to play floorball during his visit to Colorado.

Floorball players from the youth symphony group at this event were among others Karl and Elisabeth Buvarp (center in the photo), Emily Chang and Kooper Lane.  The floorball match itself was a very tight game where Kooper showed off his amazing stick handling skills, but was prevented from scoring the winning goal by Karl catching the ball just before crossing the goal line.

The collaboration between the Youth Symphony and USA Floorball actually goes even further back in time when USA Floorball hosted the 2014 US National Championships at the Olympic Training Center in downtown Colorado Springs. At that event, violinists Jory Lane, Kooper Lane, Ciara McGuire and cellist Jayna Powell performed the US National Anthem at the opening ceremony.

Furthermore, when USA Floorball hosted the 2016 World Floorball Championship Qualification event between Jamaica, the USA and Canada, also at the Olympic Training Center, Jory Lane made a special four-part arrangement of the Star Spangled Banner in honor of this very special event.  Jayna and Jorrin Powell, Emma Johnson, Marisa Miranda and Kooper Lane also performed at this event.