Do what you want and get on with it! – Winnipeg Free Press

Taiko drumming is a team sport. Performers create chest-beating rhythms by sweeping and beating large drums in synchronized movements. It's as much a choreographed dance ritual as it is a visceral concert experience.

Yvonne Zarnowski was the founder of Winnipeg's Hinode Taiko Group and a woman who marched to the beat of her own drum throughout her life. He died in October at the age of 68.

“He was very direct,” says Pamela Okano, Hinode's longtime artistic director. “I loved her about it.”

The second youngest of four siblings, Zarnowski was born in Germany to Polish and Lithuanian parents who had emigrated during World War II. The family moved to Winnipeg in the late 1950s via transatlantic travel and settled in the northern part of the city.

He attended St. John's High School and was a natural athlete who excelled in track and field. Life at home wasn't always rosy, but his childhood struggles created a deep sense of empathy as he grew up, son Lee Richard said.

“He was a very compassionate person,” she says. “He didn't judge people and he was always willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt.

Zarnowski loved animals and raised many kittens. He was an artist who sought meaning through various strands of esoteric spirituality.

However, his caring nature was sometimes hidden by his bright and outgoing exterior. Okano describes her late friend as dinner: “Soft on the inside, crispy on the outside,” she says.

Zarnowski became interested in Japanese culture in the late 70s after living in the country with her then-husband and young son. After returning to Winnipeg, he signed up for a workshop led by a drum group from Japan. The event aroused the interest of the participants in creating a local taiko ensemble.

Hinode was founded in 1982 with great enthusiasm and little resources.

“We didn't have drums; Everyone had to bring tires so we could hit something,” says co-founder Florence Mitani, recalling the large truck tires Zarnowski brought in during and after practice. “He's very dedicated.”

Crafts were a necessary part of the concert in the early days. Unable to purchase original drums from abroad, the band made their own using used whiskey barrels from a distillery in Gimli. The members screen-printed their own costumes, and Zarnowski, who worked in the props department for Rainbow Stage, created the lavish backdrops for the events.

During shows, he usually played the front drums, a position that required quick adjustments to keep the beat and a lot of stage presence. Okano remembers one particular performance that was broadcast live on a local television station during the day.

“We did really well, but (Yvonne) made one mistake and she swore, so the camera was on her,” Okano recalls with a laugh.

Zarnowski gradually moved away from Hinode, but became involved with the Manitoba Japanese Cultural Association, helping with community functions and volunteering during the Folklore.

“He left a mark on the community,” says Okano. “Not just Taikomen.”

As a child, Richard was his mother's constant companion. After her divorce from her husband, Zarnowski — not a fan of babysitters — brought her son to drumming practices, art shows, yoga classes, spiritual conferences and public lectures.

“It was good to join and I was exposed to different things,” says Richard, who has his own experience in Japan and practiced taiko as an adult. “He gave me a really special childhood.”

He also accompanied her on trips to the Exchange District art studio, which she shared with her friend Connie Chappell. The pair met in the late '80s as mature students in the University of Manitoba's fine arts program, where they bonded during smoke breaks and collaborated on their respective dissertations.

On the surface, Chappelle and Zarnowski were polar opposites – the former quiet and reserved, the latter outspoken and opinionated. Shared interests created lifelong bonds.

“I didn't want to embarrass myself, but he would go out of his way to do it, and if someone called him out on something, he would speak his mind,” Chappelle says. “But we were both spiritually sensitive… and we would talk about intimate things like what we were thinking and feeling. We would talk about our art.”

Zarnovsky worked mainly in oil paints, creating large colorful collages imbued with religious symbolism and Japanese cultural motifs. He gave up painting to focus on his day job, but remained involved in the art world as a curator, putting on eclectic shows at the former Main Access Gallery on Arthur Street. Jewelery became an interest later in life and she gifted many handmade bracelets adorned with healing gemstones to friends and family.

During their friendship, Chappelle admired Zarnowski's courage. She traveled solo through Poland and Canada, pursued her passions as a single parent, and took up horseback riding in her 60s. This courage inspired Chappell to live a brave life.

“Life is too short to worry,” he says. “Do what you want and get on with it.”

When Richard found out that his mother had started riding lessons, he was worried, especially when she fell off her horse during the lesson, but he wasn't surprised.

“He was always trying new things,” she says. “His intelligence and curiosity never waned.”

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