Taikoz, formed in 1997, was founded by Riley Lee along with Ian Cleworth, who later became artistic director.

[2] Lee had previously worked with Ondekoza in the 1970s, and was approached by Cleworth to form a kumi-daiko group in Sydney.

[5] Their performances also can be categorised as either more traditional, festival-based pieces (called matsuri-bayashi) before formal groups formed in the 1950s, or more based on modern kumi-daiko performance modelled on groups like Ondekoza and Kodo.

[8] In 2007, Taikoz collaborated with the Meryl Tankard Company to create Kaidan, a dance work based on a Japanese folk legend, which premiered at the Sydney Festival.

[9] They have also performed collaboratively with Kodo,[2] the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras,[citation needed] as well as Bell Shakespeare Company in Sydney,[citation needed] and the Canberra Theatre in Canberra.