Marly Coe

Marly grew up on an apple orchard in southern New Hampshire, and studied Japanese throughout high school. After moving to southern California for college in 2014, Marly quickly joined the Claremont Colleges Shogo Taiko. There they played for 4 years, serving as the group's creative director their senior year (even going to 3 hour taiko practices on Saturday afternoons right after their morning rugby games!).

After graduating, Marly continued playing taiko with Makoto Taiko in Pasadena, where they became a community performing group member just a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic. Marly continued taking virtual classes with Makoto throughout their move back to the east coast in 2020, and became a member of ONE in 2021. They have continued learning and growing as a taiko player ever since, performing all over New England!

Marly began taiko as a way to stay connected to the Japanese American community in the U.S., and to continue practicing the Japanese language outside the classroom. As a biomedical engineer, Marly also appreciates that taiko provides a fun, creative outlet to get them out of their head and into their body every week!