The European Shakuhachi Society

Author: ESS_admin

  • Summer School in Dublin, 20–23 July 2023S

    Summer School in Dublin, 20–23 July 2023S

    Almost unbelievably the last time where we all could meet face to face to play and learn shakuhachi together was in 2019 in Lisbon. Although we had a continous virtual gatherings through our Zoom programme, we still missed sharing the same location and all that social mingling these ESS events bring along with them.

    Now thanks to Philip Horan and his team in Ireland, who, after the 2020 Covid induced cancellation and the huge disappointment to be stopped in mid-organisation, still managed to put together a fantastic programme for this year’s summer school at an amazing location:

    Dates: Thursday 20 July to Sunday 23 July 2023
    Venue: Irish Institute of Music and Song, Balbriggan, County Dublin
    Information & registration: dublin2023.shakuhachisociety.eu

  • Online Event ‘Road to Dublin 3′ on 4, 5 March 2023

    Online Event ‘Road to Dublin 3′ on 4, 5 March 2023

    The third and final ‘Road to Dublin’ online will take place on 4th and 5th March. Again a wide range of styles will be represented as well as workshops for different levels of proficiency.

    If you are also planning to attend the ESS Summer School in Dublin this year (20–23 July), there is a special offer for ESS members to book a combined ticket for Road to Dublin 3 and the Dublin Summer School. Please see the registration page for more details.

    Teachers: Seian Genshin, Marco Lienhard, Adrian Freedman and Yoshimi Tsujimoto

    Dates: 4, 5 March 2023

    Fees: ESS members: €40, Non-members: €50

    Web: http://roadtodublin.shakuhachisociety.eu

    Registration: roadtodublin.shakuhachisociety.eu/registration-3

    The Road to Dublin Online Event 3 presents shakuhachi music from the legendary roots right up to the very present. Our weekend starts with Seian Genshin, the 42nd head of the Myōanji Temple/Fuke Myōan Shakuhachi sharing with us Chōshi and Kokū and through this his approach to ‘suizen’ and seeing shakuhachi as a tool of Zen Buddhism. The meditative Fuke Myōan sounds will be contrasted by Marco Lienhard’s interpretation and teaching of the virtuous expressive piece Makiri a modern composition by Marco’s teacher, the late Yokoyama Katsuya. Tsujimoto Yoshimi one of the young new generation of woman shakuhachi masters in Japan, equally at home in the Kinko tradition as well as in the contemporary ‘shakuhachi-pop’ scene, introduces us to her take on Tamuke and arrangements of popular tunes Takeda no Komori Uta and Summer. We will close the workshop by arriving at Adrian Freedman’s 2015 composition Yugure, where the calming rhythm of breath and sound brings us back again to the roots and right into the present – there-by closing the circle of our week-end excursion.

  • ESS Winter Concert 2022

    Performers
    Dublin 1 Invitees: Araki Kodo VI, Shiori Tanabe, Nina Haarer
    Dublin 2 Invitees: Akihito Obama, Véronique Piron, Christophe Kazan Gaston & Akari Sagara, Cesar Viana
    Dublin 3 Invitees: Seian Genshin, Marco Lienhard, Adrian Freedman, Yoshimi Tsujimoto
    Honorary ESS Members: Clive Bell, Kaoru Kakizakai, Atsuya Okuda, Brian Ritchie, Richard Stagg
    ESS Members: Hélène Seiyu Codjo, Markus Guhe, Bryan Jardim, Damon Rawnsley, Tamara Rogozina, Ursula Fuyūmi Schmidiger, Laonikos Psimikakis Chalkokondylis

    PROGRAMME – THE ESS WINTER CONCERT 2022

    Download (pdf)

    What is it?
    We invited the teachers of the three online Dublin events and our honorary members. Furthermore we had an open call for ESS members to be part of the online concert by submitting a video too. 
    We think the concert will be a great opportunity to listen to a mixture of performances from traditional to avantgarde as well as an end of the year gathering to socialise online.

    When is it?
    Sunday 11 December, 14:00–17:00 CET

    Where is it?
    Right on your screen at home, on Zoom, accESSible through a link distributed nearer the event date.

    How do I attend?
    Attending is free and easy. 
    Just visit our registration page (also see below) and book your place with your email and name/Zoom name. In this way you will receive the relevant Zoom link on the day before the event starts.

    This is the first time the ESS is staging such an end of the year event and we hope it will become a regular feature in the ESS online calendar. Be there and be merry!

    The ESS Concert Team & ESS Board

  • New Board Elected At Last AGM

    At the last AGM on 5 November 2022 a new board of the European Shakuhachi Society was elected. The new board for the year 2022/23 is as follows:

    Chairperson – Thorsten Knaub
    Treasurer – Emmanuelle Rouaud
    Secretary – Nina Haarer
    Media & Communication Officer – Markus Guhe
    Publication Officers – Cesar Viana & Ramón Humet

  • Online Event ‘Road To Dublin 2’ – 5/6 November 2022

    Online Event ‘Road to Dublin 2’ – 5/6 November 2022

    Following on from the last very successful event in May, the ESS is delighted to announce details of the next 2-day online event, The Road to Dublin 2, as a prelude to our next Summer School in Dublin in 2023, and featuring a wide range of styles, genres, levels, pieces and teachers so offering something for everyone; a real bonanza!

    • Two ‘rooms’ will be available throughout to cater for both Beginners and Intermediate/Advanced so there will be considerable choice (note: there will be no ‘complete beginners’ classes)
    • Longer time slots for all sessions for more in-depth study following feedback from previous events
    • Teachers from Japan and rising stars in Europe have been invited to showcase their special expertise in very different genres
    • A rare opportunity to learn a classic sankyoku piece taught with both the shakuhachi and koto teachers in the same room to explore the rich expressions and subtle techniques involved
    • A Roundtable Discussion led by two leading researchers into the shakuhachi with two special guests to explore a wide range of cultural, aesthetic, historical, musical and construction issues in the shakuhachi incorporating participant’s questions and observations
    • Opportunities to get together socially
    • The annual AGM will be held on the afternoon of 5 November

    Special guest from Japan: Obama Akihito
    European teachers: Christophe Kazan Gaston, Véronique Piron, Sagara Akari, Cesar Viana
    Roundtable convenors: Kiku Day, Gunnar Jinmei Linder with special guests Anne Prescott and Andrea Giolai

    Fee: ESS members 40 Euros, Non-ESS members 50 Euros. (To join the ESS, please visit the ESS membership page)

  • Tatiana Rechnaya

    The ESS Board and Adviser Group are saddened to learn of the untimely passing of the Russian shakuhachi player Tatiana Rechnaya on 16 April 2022. Tatiana and her partner Dima participated in WSF2018. She made many friends there because of her friendly character and her enthusiasm about the shakuhachi and Japanese music in general. At WSF18 Tatiana became a min’yō lover and stayed in contact with Enomoto sensei, who taught min’yō shakuhachi, till the very end. We have lost a beautiful member of the shakuhachi community. She was a sensitive and kind soul who loved peace and music. R.I.P.

  • Registration For Online Event Is Now Open!

    April 9: The Registration for the 1. Online Event on the Road to Dublin is now open!

    Dates: Saturday 28 May + Sunday 29 May 2022
    Teachers: Araki Kodo VI, Shiori Tanabe, Horacio Curti, Nina Haarer, Philip Horan
    Fees: ESS-members € 40 / Non-members €50
    Registration: http://roadtodublin.shakuhachisociety.eu/registration

  • Announcement: Road To Dublin

    We are happy to announce the Road to Dublin – a series of weekend online events taking place between May 2022 and March 2023.

    As due to the pandemic it was still not possible to organise the Dublin ESS Summer School in time for this year, we put forward an extended series of online events to give us all the opportunity to be in touch virtually and move together step by step towards the ESS Summer School 2023 in Dublin, Ireland, where we finally can meet up again in person.

    The Road to Dublin 2022 – 2023 timeline:

    28/29 May 2022 – 1. Online Event
    November 2022 – 2. Online Event
    December 2022 – ESS Online Concert
    March 2023 – 3. Online Event  
    Summer 2023 – Dublin ESS Summer School

    We already can announce the line up for our 1. Online Event:
    (the other event dates and details will be announced in due time.)

    1. Online Event – Saturday 28 May + Sunday 29 May 2022

    We are particular happy to have, from the US Araki Kodō VI representing the oldest continuous shakuhachi lineage, as well as from Japan, Shiori Tanabe, representing the young and exciting new generation of the Tanabe shakuhachi family.

    And we have a fine selection of European guest teachers too: Horacio Curti, Nina Haarer and Philip Horan.

    The programme will have 10 sESSions covering traditional and modern pieces, tips and technique and of course there will be moment to ro-buki together.

    The detailed schedule and programme is to be announced in early April and registration for the 1. Online Event will open on the 9 April

    Visit: roadtodublin.shakuhachisociety.eu

    Hope to see you there!
    ESS committee

  • ESS Online Shakuhachi Summer School – Pre-Event Screening Of Words Can’T Go There

    As a pre-event to this year’s ESS Online Summer School 2021 the ESS will be showing the documentary by David Neptune about his father, the shakuhachi player and maker John Kaizan Neptune.

    The screening will be at 3.00pm CEST on 18 July followed by Q & A at 4.30pm CEST with David and John Kaizan Neptune.

    Synopsis: John Kaizan Neptune was a young California surfer when he discovered the shakuhachi, a traditional Japanese bamboo flute, which changed his life forever. As an outsider in 1970s Japan, he dived into tradition headfirst and blew open the potential of this ancient instrument in a way only he could have. Directed by his son, this inside story delves deep into the life of an artist and what it cost him to cross cultural borders and become a pivotal figure in the evolution of this rare art form.

  • ESS Online Shakuhachi Summer School – Call For Contributions By Members And Participants

    We invite all ESS members and other participants of the event to share their knowledge and experiences with our fellow shakuhachi players.

    Please find the details here.