The European Shakuhachi Society

Category: Summer School

  • 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)

  • 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

  • Sakura Planting Ceremony At The ESS Summer School In Balbriggan 2023

    Ambassador of Japan to Ireland Mr. Maruyama (third from left), next to CEO of the Irish Institute for Music and Dance, Michael Dawson (first from left) and Phil Soumei Horan (on right)
    Playing Sakura in the rain – from left: Philip Soumei Horan, Ambassador of Japan to Ireland Mr. Maruyama, Kiku Day, Thorsten Knaub (ESS Chair), Araki Kodo VI and Riley Lee
    The commemorative plaque and sakura tree

    One of the most memorable events of the ESS Summer School 2023 was the planting of the sakura tree. The Ambassador of Japan to Ireland, Mr. Maruyama, made a special visit to the Irish Institute of Music and Song in Balbriggan to show his support for the Summer School. He attended the Gala Concert with performances by some of the teachers at the Summer School, and we then all went out to the garden of the IIMS grounds and took part in a tree-planting ceremony.

    In the ceremony we all stood in the gentle rain as a few speeches were given, and then we collectively played Sakura Sakura, while the Ambassador took the spade and ceremonically planted a sakura tree in the garden of the IIMS together with a dedicated plaque to commemorate this special event.

    The plaque features a beautiful engraving of a shakuhachi player and has the following inscription:

    “This Sakura tree, symbolising the spirit of the Japanese people which is closely associated with the culture of Japan has been planted by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ireland, Ambassador Maruyama Norio, to mark the occasion of the Irish Institute of Music & Song hosting the European Shakuhachi Summer School 19th to 24th July 2023“

  • ESS Summer School In Balbriggan, 20-24 July 2023

    With huge thanks to Phil Horan and his team in Ireland, this year’s ESS Summer School was a huge succESS. We left the beautiful island of Ireland full of inspiration, ideas, new pieces, memories of amazing performances by the teachers and students, and of course bellies full of GuinESS!

  • ESS Summer School 2024: Finland!

    The ESS in collaboration with the Finnish Shakuhachi Association is preparing the ESS Summer School in Finland in 2024. The dates are from 29. July to 1. August 2024.

    Like every Summer School, we will offer a range of workshops, talks and lESSons from established teachers and shakuhachi practitioners covering a wide array of different shakuhachi schools and styles. This year we have for the first time a major Ueda-ryū player as guest and another special ingredient in this years’ event will be a hitoyogiri making workshop.

    From Japan we welcome Tani Yasunori, iemoto daihyo (representing the iemoto) dai-shihan of Ueda-ryū, who will present Ueda-ryū honkyoku and sankyoku, from Australia Riley Lee will be teaching Chtkuho-ryū honkyoku and contemporary pieces, Gunnar Jinmei Linder from Chikumeisha will teach sōkyoku and honkyoku, Hélène Seiyu Codjo will present Hijiri-Kai pieces and own compositions, Kiku Day will present Zensabo and Myoan honkyoku, Emmanuelle Rouaud will teach KSK honkyoku, shinkyoku and moving image improvisation sESSion with Thorsten Knaub who will also present jiari-shakuhachi making and a shakuhachi clinic, and our special guest for koto/shamisen accompaniment and teaching will be Naoko Kikuchi.

    Our special guests and co-organisers from the Finnish Shakuhachi Association, Aaro Haavisto will teach Ueda-ryū basics and lead the hitoyogiri-making workshop, Otto Eskelinen introduces us to Finnish folk music played on shakuhachi and Sakari Heikka will present a workshop on how to play and improvise with scales and modes on shakuhachi. Last but not least Sangen Salo will give us a taste of zazen and his take on shakuhachi & zen.

    Programme & Registration

    This is not all. Please see our draft schedule on the website for current timetable and other sESSions and talks happening. And please note, in general our programme caters for all levels – from beginner/elementary to intermediate to advanced.

    Visit our dedicated website where you will find all the different registration options (accommodation/meals packages or summer school participation only) and also can complete our new online registration there. ESS members receive discounted registration fees.

    All the info here: https://finland2024.shakuhachisociety.eu/

    See you in Finland!

    With the support of the Scandinavia-Japan Sasakawa Foundation.

  • ESS Commissions New Shakuhachi Music!

    The ESS is thrilled to announce a special commission for this year’s Summer School in Finland:  We asked world renowned composer Marty Regan to create a special ‘group piece’ for Finland 2024 which will have its World Premiere at the Sibelius Museum in Turku. This ‘group piece’ will be performed by teachers and participants of the Summer School and welcomes players of all levels too. Read more here.

    To find out all the details for this year’s ESS Summer School and to sign up, visit https://finland2024.shakuhachisociety.eu/