KSK Shakuhachi Festival 2019

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Invited Musicians from Abroad

• Jim Franklin (Germany)

  Dr Jim Franklin initially studied composition and musicology in Australia, Germany and Holland. In 1986 he encountered the shakuhachi, studying with Dr Riley Lee, Furuya Teruo and Yokoyama Katsuya. He received his Shihan-license in 1996 from Yokoyama-sensei. As a composer, Franklin also works with contemporary and electroacoustic music, combining shakuhachi and live electronics. Since 2004 Franklin has lived in Germany. From 2006 to 2009 he was founding Chairperson of the European Shakuhachi Society. In 2018 he was a key organiser of the World Shakuhachi Festival in London, responsible for programme and budget.

• David Wheeler, Kansuke II (United States)

  MA Tokyo National Arts University, 1985 Japanese Music History and Theory Musician and musicologist David Kansuke Wheeler lived in Japan for twenty years studying and performing the shakuhachi with some of Japan's finest traditional masters and ensembles, beginning in Tokyo in 1977 with Junsuke Kawase III (Kansuke I), head of the Kinko Style Chikuyu-sha. In 2008, in recognition of three decades of performing, production and teaching activities, he received the performance name Kansuke II. Kansuke's professional career started in Tokyo, and has since taken him all over Japan and around the world. He has had a central role in every major world shakuhachi festival since the first in Bisei, Japan in 1994, and including Boulder ('98), Tokyo ('02), New York ('04) and Sidney ('08), Kyoto ('12) and London ('18). Since 1999, he has (with Cory Sperry) annually produced the Shakuhachi Summer Camp of the Rockies, featuring faculty from Japan, Australia and the US, and attended by students from North America and Japan. His work aims at crossing musical and artistic barriers both within and outside of the Japanese traditional performing arts world. Wheeler was a Japan Foundation Lecturer of World Music at CU Boulder in 1997-98, and also lectured at Naropa University. He now teaches and performs from a base in Boulder.

• Gunnar Jinmei Linder (Sweden)

  Kinko-ryu Shakuhachi Shihan MA in Shakuhachi, PhD in Japanology Gunnar studied the shakuhachi in Japan from 1985 with Yamaguchi Goro (1933-99; Designated Living National Treasure). He holds an MA in shakuhachi (Tokyo Geidai, 1997), a shihan license from Yamaguchi (1998), and a PhD in Japanology (Stockholm University, 2012). Gunnar was professionally active in Japan until 2005. Presently he is teaching and performing widely in Europe, besides working as Associate Professor of Japanese Studies at Stockholm University and part-time shakuhachi instructor at the Royal College of Music. In 2016 he was awarded the Japanese Foreign Minister's Commendation for cultural and academic activities.

• Lindsay Dugan (Australia)

  Lindsay Dugan has been studying shakuhachi with Kakizakai Kaoru since 2004. In 2008, Lindsay graduated with a Masters degree in shakuhachi performance from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Australia, under the tutelage of Riley Lee. In 2009, after receiving a prestigious Monbusho Scholarship from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture, Science, and Technology (MEXT), he commenced studies at Tokyo University of the Arts (Tokyo Geidai), graduating with a Masters degree in shakuhachi performance from Tokyo Geidai in 2014. In 2015, Lindsay commenced a PhD in Ethnomusicology at University of Melbourne, Australia, researching the performance of Yokoyama Katsuya.

• Kiku Day (Denmark)

  Dr Kiku Day, jinashi shakuhachi player, ethnomusicologist, staff at the Royal Academy of Music, Denmark, studied honkyoku with Okuda Atsuya for 11 years. Day is a founding member and served 10 years as chairperson for the European Shakuhachi Society. In 2006 she co-founded the European Shakuhachi Summer School, which has until present taken place in 8 countries. Day served as the chair of the Executive Committee for the 7th World Shakuhachi Festival in London. Composers, among others: Roxanna Panufnik, Takahashi Yuji, Frank Denyer have written for her. She has performed as a soloist with Odense Symphony Orchestra playing Takemitsu Toru's November Steps.

Domestic Musicians

• Shimura Zenpo

  Photo: Yunosuke Kawabe

  Shimura Zenpo studied music engineering at music department of Osaka University of Arts. He has studied traditional Japanese music style inheritance in the world of electronic music and computer music, and recording techniques for Japanese music. The universe of bamboo pipes by Cyber Shakuhachi 'Denno Sugamo' was selected for ICMC 1994 in Denmark and Hong Kong in 1996. While studying shakuhachi with Sakai Chikuo, the founder of Chikuho schools, and Shodo Sakai, the third generation, he conducted a survey of historical materials on shakuhachi throughout Japan with Tsuneko Tsukitani, and learned the techniques of Komuso shakuhachi in various places. Shimura received his PhD degree in musicology and instrumental research of shakuhachi. He gives lectures on reassessments of the value of ancient shakuhachi and performs at home and abroad, including the world shakuhachi festivals. He also premiered various avant-garde works with jinashi shakuhachi. In recent years, he dedicated to performing at the shrines and temples, rebuilding Japanese music education, and operating the Shakuhachi Museum. He is also a professor of Osaka University of Arts (musical science, music and acoustic design, practical skills of shakuhachi).

• Sugawara Kuniyoshi

  SUGAWARA Kuniyoshi started playing shakuhachi aged 12, learning Tozan Ryu and Kinko Ryu from YOKOYAMA Katsuya. Aged 21, he won first place in the Hokkaido Sankyoku competition, and became a professional shakuhachi player after winning the All Japan Sankyoku Competition. When he was 25 he took second place in both the solo performance section and the ensemble performance section of the 'Pan Music Contemporary Music for Traditional Instruments' competition. SUGAWARA has performed many times on television and radio, both in Japan and overseas. He plays solo koten honkyoku and also collaborates with Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, Kanazawa Orchestra ensemble and the big band 'New Herd'. Over the last 20 years he has released many CDs, has taught and published many books and videos which have been well received by beginners. SUGAWARA is the president of the 'Sugawara Hogaku Research Laboratory' in Tokyo, Sapporo, Hamamatsu and Nagano. He is a part time lecturer at Hokkaido University, and runs the shakuhachi societies in Chuo and Hokkaido University. He is the director of the Sapporo Sankyoku Association, as well as being a member of the Kokubunji Sankyoku Association.

• Christopher Molina (United States)

  Christopher Molina is a composer and doctoral candidate in composition at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa. Currently a Japan Foundation Fellow, he is a native of Boston, a Graduate Fellow at the East-West Center and a graduate of the University of Michigan and Middlebury College. His teachers include William Bolcom, Betsy Jolas, Bright Sheng, Michael Daugherty, and Su Lian Tan. Molina's music combines world instruments with Classical celebrating jazz and folk influences, chamber, vocal and symphonic music, as well as aesthetics relating to nature. His work has been premiered by the St. Petersburg and Takacs Quartets, the Shanghai Philharmonic, the University of Michigan and Sage City Symphonies, by koto virtuoso Miyazaki Mieko and gayageum virtuoso Jiyoung Yi. He studies shakuhachi with Matama Kazushi.

• Obama Akihito

  OBAMA Akihito studied Kinko style shakuhachi and classical honkyoku with ISHIKAWA Toshimitsu. He studied min'yo (folk music) shakuhachi with YONEYA Satoshi. A graduate of the National Broadcasting Association's (NHK) Japanese Music Artists, OBAMA also won the New Performers Competition in Tokyo and completed a 'Performance Pilgrimage Tour of Shikoku's 88 Temples' and studied in New York on an Asian Cultural Council scholarship. OBAMA was an invited performer at the Sydney World Shakuhachi Festival, the London World Shakuhachi Festival, the World Shakuhachi Festival Prague and La Folle Journee de Nantes. In addition to his solo performances centered on classical honkyoku, he performs min'yo music with ITO Takio in TAKiO BAND, and many other groups. He has performed in 35 different countries around the world. OBAMA has produced 7 CDs, including one with his original compositions entitled 'Sui (Water)', 'Lotus Position' with jazz pianist YAMASHITA Yosuke, and honkyoku collection 'The Light in the Silence'. He is a part-time faculty member at Gakushuin University and a member of Japan Shakuhachi Professional-players Network.

Composer of the Festival Commission Tune

• Doi Keisuke

  Doi Keisuke was born in Okayama and first studied shigin, recitation of Japanese poem, from his grandmother and mother in his childhood. On moving to Tokyo, he began studies with Ono Seido and Yokoyama Katsuya. Doi has performed with various musicians including Hayashi Eitetsu, an acclaimed taiko performer. He studied jazz arrangement and improvisation with an american flautist Claude Rogue. Later he began composing after studying classical composition. For many years, he has been working with a dance group Dairakudakan, led by an actor Maro Akaji. He also has a number of commissioned works from Furuya Teruo. Currently living in Tsuyama city, Okayama, he has inherited chairmanship of the Hakuho-ryu Kin'u shigin association from his mother, Doi Hakuho.

Regular Instructors of the KSK

• Furuya Teruo

  FURUYA Teruo started learning the shakuhachi at the Tokyo Gakugei University. In 1969 he became a student of YOKOYAMA Katsuya (1934-2010). He studied and stayed with him for 41 years. After graduating in 1971 from Tokyo Gakugei University and the NHK Traditional Music Conservatory, he passed the prestigious NHK Traditional Japanese Music Audition. A few years later, he started playing shakuhachi in public and from 1980 onwards giving his own solo recitals. He toured overseas extensively with YOKOYAMA Katsuya as a soloist, and also as a shakuhachi performer with the drumming ensemble 'Ondeko-za'. FURUYA performs regularly in Japan as well as abroad, e.g. France, Belgium, Morocco, Thailand, USA and Australia. Since the 1990s, he has been integrally involved in the World Shakuhachi Festivals, as an organizer and also as a teacher and performer. Additionally he was invited by the European Shakuhachi Society to their Summer School in France 2007 and Germany 2014 as one of the principal instructors and performers. He also regularly visits Paris to give workshops and master-classes. Currently FURUYA Teruo is a director of Ranposha Chikushinkai and is the head teacher of the Kokusai Shakuhachi Kenshukan (International Shakuhachi Training Center) founded by YOKOYAMA Katsuya in 1988. He also teaches at the NHK Traditional Music Conservatory and the Tokyo Gakugei University and takes a leading advisory role in matters concerning Japanese traditional music with NHK. He has contributed to numerous CD recordings and radio broadcasts and has also composed for the shakuhachi. Most recently he recorded three honkyoku solo CDs (2013- 2015), 'Fudo' a shakuhachi trio with KAKIZAKAI Kaoru and MATAMA Kazushi (2013) and 'Modan-Teruo Furuya meets Keisuke Doi Vol.1' (2014) and 'Vol. 2' (2016) a further collaboration with the composer DOI Keisuke. FURUYA also appears on numerous CD and DVD recordings with YOKOYAMA Katsuya.

• Matama Kazushi

  MATAMA Kazushi started playing shakuhachi at the age of 17 and began intensive studies of the instrument under the late YOKOYAMA Katsuya a few years later.He also studied history at Hosei University in Tokyo as well as music at the NHK Traditional Music Conservatory from which he graduated in 1973. His first recitals and concert tours took place in the following years and he travelled extensively with YOKOYAMA-sensei in Europe, the Americas and in Africa. He has been a key figure in the development and organization of the World Shakuhachi Festivals, starting in Bisei (Japan) in 1994 and Boulder (USA) in 1998 and has been teaching and performing regularly at the annual Australian Shakuhachi Festivals and Rocky Summer Camps. At present, he is an instructor at the NHK Culture Centre, is a main instructor in the Kokusai Shakuhachi Kenshukan, and is director of the Ranposha Chikushinkai and the president of the Yokohama Chikushinkai.

• Kakizakai Kaoru

  KAKIZAKAI Kaoru studied shakuhachi firstly under SAITO Seido and then from 1982 onwards under the late YOKOYAMA Katsuya. He has won the Japanese Hogaku Music Nationwide Contest in the shakuhachi division. He passed the 3rd Victor Audition for Japanese Music. KAKIZAKAI has performed at the first World Shakuhachi Festival in Bisei, Japan in 1994 and since then in 1998 in Boulder, USA; Tokyo 2002; New York 2004; Sydney, Australia 2008 and Kyoto 2012. KAKIZAKAI has performed TAKEMITSU Toru's 'November Steps' with NHK Symphony Orchestra conducted by Charles DUYOIT and also under the direction of IWAKI Hiroyuki; HONNA Tesuji; TAKAHASHI Naoshi and with orchestras such as Saint Petersburg Philharmonics, Erzgebirgsensembles Philharmonic Orchestra and Orchestra Nipponica. He performs and teaches in the USA, Europe, Australia, Taiwan and China. KAKIZAKAI has released the CDs 'Koten Honkyoku', 'Koten Honkyoku 2', 'Koten Honkyoku 3', 'Solo Pieces by FUKUDA Rando'. He is currently a lecturer at the Tokyo College of Music and an instructor at the NHK Culture Centre, and is one of the principal instructors and administrators of the Kokusai Shakuhachi Kenshu-kan of which he is the Chichibu head.

• Ishikawa Toshimitsu

  ISHIKAWA Toshimitsu studied Kinko Ryu shakuhachi with YOKOYAMA Katsuya and old pieces with ARAKI Kodo V. Completed the 37th season of NHK Music Technique course and passed the NHK Audition. He received the New Face award of the National Arts Festival Awards by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Excellence Prize and the Aoyama Music Barocksaal Award. He has performed in India, USA, Australia, Poland, Belgium, Austria, Singapore, Germany and Lithuania supported by Japan Foundation. ISHIKAWA has released the CDs 'Ikkan Kenmei I, II, III'; 'Collection of works by FUKUDA Rando: Shakuhachi Roman'; 'Ishikawa Bros'; 'Solo Shakuhachi'. Ishikawa mainly performs CD recording, improvised music broadcasting and concerts in the Kansai region. He is the representative of Osaka Hogaku Soloists, chairperson of Ishi no Kai, Member of Aoyoma Music Award Selection Committee and a permanent faculty member of the KSK.

• Okada Michiaki

  Okada Michiaki initially studied shakuhachi with Shimada Dosetsu, then with Yokoyama Katsuya. He is a graduate of the 35th NHK Traditional Music Conservatory. He has been performing and teaching in and around Kyoto and abroad, including 13 recitals, independent performances, supporting performances, radio appearances, and recordings. He is a member of Fudo, a shakuhachi trio, as well as Satsuki kai.