Wollongong Town Hall

Saturday 

Tickets: merrigong.com.au

When the TaikOz team arrive in the region on Saturday for the final stop on their national tour, they'll be chomping at the bit to get into the Wollongong Town Hall.

The popular drumming ensemble have performed at theatres across the country but are yet to show off their latest works in a town hall brimming with brilliant acoustic sound.

"It's hard with a town hall because you do have to compromise with lighting but the sound is always incredible, it just fills the space," drummer Graham Hilgendorf said.

"We've spent the whole tour performing in theatres so this will be a really nice way to finish."

TaikOz returns to the Illawarra with their newest work Toward the Crimson Sky, composed by artistic director Ian Cleworth.

The composition, based on a Japanese haiku poem, features traditional instruments including the shakuhachi, bamboo flute and the bass koto - an instrument rarely heard in Australia.

Hilgendorf said the work was demonstrative of the group's love of contrasting themes.

"The whole performance is just really beautiful," he said.

"It's beautifully lit, it's dynamic and it's got this incredible sound - you've got this thundering drumming compared with soft flute melodies, it's just beautiful."

TaikOz has been touring the globe for nearly 20 years, regularly selling out shows to die-hard fans and newbies alike - a fact Hilgendorf put down to the ensemble's showmanship.

"But the show is also predominantly visual - you've got elements of dance, ballet and martial arts in there so there's all these different influences and it just makes the show so visually pleasing."

"People love the sound of the drum and the way it resonates inside them, you really feel it," he said.

Hilgendorf said rehearsals for any tour were intense, forcing performers to polish their craft.

"It's not only learning the music but the nuances so we spend a lot of time workshopping the pieces," he said.

"A lot of the music is composed internally, which is great because you get a lot of interaction from members of the ensemble; people will say 'change this around or this might be better', it's very flexible.

"The composers really know the capability of the ensemble too so they can really play to their strengths."