豪 州 尺 八 会 AUSTRALIAN SHAKUHACHI SOCIETY Nr. 49 Spring 2014 ASS: 11 Sherman Avenue Katoomba NSW 2780 FROM YOUR NEW PRESIDENT Hi Everyone, My name is David Jobst and I am your new humble A.S.S president. We have a revitalized A.S.S committee with new committee positions taken and a new committee member. Please check out your committee members listed in this newsletter. We have an enthusiastic committee with committed and experienced people. I wish to give many thanks to outgoing newsletter editor Graham Ranft for his outstanding & longstanding contribution as newsletter editor. NEW NEWS I also want to thank the performers who volunteered there time to play at the recent ASS Riley Lee has completely revamped his website. One Fundraising Concert on 31st October in section, called 'Members', is password-protected. Sydney which raised money to help with next Obtaining the password typically requires a one-off years A.S.S Festival to be held in Brisbane. The payment of A$22. performers included Riley Lee, Bronwyn Kirkpatrick, David Jobst, David Dixon and Paid-up members of the Australian Shakuhachi Nicholas Hall. The concert was very successful Society automatically receive the password as part of with great feedback from the audience (many of their membership. The password will be changed whom were new to shakuhachi). Some audience periodically, with paid-up Society members receiving members brought CDs and also enjoyed playing the new password when this happens. Yuu shakuhachi which were made available to Material will continue to be added to the ‘members' buy. Many signed up to an emailing list for future area. events as well as some wanting to join the A.S.S. Also, Riley plans to add to this ‘members' area, all Members should keep an eye out in the next year links to blogs, websites, etc., of any current ASS for A.S.S events like Music Workshops. Music member who want him to do so. This lists of links will Workshops are events were A.S.S members be in addition to the general ‘links’ page elsewhere on gather together and have the opportunity to his site. perform for each other and receive helpful feedback from each other. For more information: http://rileylee.net/about-the-members-area/ The Music Workshops will be either free or low If you have not joined the Society or if your cost depending on venue and could be open to the membership is not current, this is yet another reason to interested general public to attend. It's a good way make sure you are a member. For more to keep connected with other members in your information:http://shakuhachi.org.au/ own area and help each others practice. Most committee members live in Sydney. For this 2 reason I encourage members to consider having We need ASF15 volunteers to help with tasks A.S.S Music Workshops (and Concerts) in their both before and during the Festival. Please let us own area. know if you are willing to help. Participant/volunteers are the most important Please contact me with any ideas you have for the people in our shakuhachi community! A.S.S in your local area. The committee will help with organization and also advertise events through the A.S.S Website, Newsletter and A.S.S members list. You may be surprised by the number of members in your area. We have members all around Australia from Hobart to Mullumbimby and beyond! AUSTRALIAN SHAKUHACHI FESTIVAL Remember we have our 2015 Festival in 2-5 October 2015 Brisbane held in October next year with visiting teachers from Japan. So we all have plenty of reason to do more practice. AUSTRALIAN SHAKUHACHI FESTIVAL 2015 SHAKUHACHI IN THE SACRED MUSIC FESTIVAL For the first time in almost a decade, the Australian Shakuhachi Society is set to organise It is no surprise that the shakuhachi featured and present a residential Australian Shakuhachi heavily in this year’s Sydney Sacred Music Festival in October 2015, with teachers and Festival. Bronwyn Kirkpatrick performed in participants coming from Australia and overseas. “Sacred Journeys”, which according to the SSFM ASF15 will be held at the Redlands Arts Centre, a website, new complex located just south of Brisbane QLD. … is a series of intimate performances that The RAC and the City of Redlands are one of our will bring music to the heart of the Royal sponsors. North Shore, Nepean and Blacktown and Mount Druitt Hospitals. The program will Here is a link to the RAC: include lyrical voices, instrumentals and dance from musical traditions around the www.rpac.com.au/venues/Pages/Venues.aspx world that will lift you out of your daily routine and take you on a journey of We are hoping to invite the following teachers renewal. from overseas: Teruo Furuya, Katsushi Matama, Kaoru Kakizakai from the International Sacred Journeys is a Sydney Sacred Music Shakuhachi Training Centre, and Christopher Festival event curated and supported by the Yohmei Blasdel (studied with the late Living Health and Arts Research Centre in National Treasure Goro Yamaguchi). partnership with Royal North Shore Hospital, Nepean Hospital, the Blacktown We also hope to have a full contingent of Mount Druitt Hospital Expansion Project Australian shakuhachi teachers as well, of which and Blacktown Arts Centre. there are quite a few now. Riley Lee also performed in multiple events. The The dates for ASF15 are 2-5 October 2015 (a first was “Journey to Stillness” at the Mosman Art long weekend). Please put this in your calendar! Gallery on 7 September. From the SSMF website: 3 This concert features original expressions of sacred music for the shakuhachi. The sounds of Riley’s solo shakuhachi are The ability to listen enhanced by equally subtle and beautiful Trust (in yourself and in the others sounds created electronically by John within the dialogue) Cleworth. Commitment and practice The pieces in this concert are based on works on a new album that was completed How true! this year and will be released on the Sounds True label (USA) in 2015. ~~~ Then he performed in a programme called “Mujing”, at the Campbelltown Arts Centre on 14 September, which received five stars in an SMH AUSTRALIAN SHAKUHACHI review (see below). FESTIVAL Finally, on 21 September, the last day of the 2-5 October 2015 Sydney Sacred Music Festival, Riley participated in an event called “Sharing Spirituality Through Dialogue”, at the SGK auditorium in Sydney ~~~ Olympic Park. The other performer/speakers were Sandy Evans (sax), Armondo Hurley (voice) and FIRST EVER KAUAI Alister Spence (piano). SHAKUHACHI WORKSHOP Again from the SSMF website: The inaugural Kauai Shakuhachi Workshop (15- This unique event features a musical 17 August 2014) was organised by Kauai improvisational dialogue between three residents Kyle Chew and Ray Nitta. It was held masterful musicians. Following this on the beautiful grounds of the Waimea Plantation performance the audience is treated to a Cottages. The tutors were Robert Herr and Steve facilitated dialogue between the artists Casano from Honolulu and Riley Lee. Just under including a question and answer session. 20 participants played shakuhachi from dawn to This rare opportunity to hear the music dusk near the beach on the southern shores of and dialogue between artists who live their Kauai, near Waimea Canyon. life through the beautiful expression of A public concert was held in the historic Old music is not to be missed. Stone Church in Waimea on 15 August. The concert featured the three teachers, Kyle, and The four of had never performed together, and Honolulu based koto player Darin Miyashiro. some of them only met for the first time on the day of the performance. They played a long The church, built in the early 1800s, has thick improvisation, then spoke of and further discussed stone walls that were purposely constructed to music/linguistic dialogues, also receiving spread slightly outwards from the front of the comments and questions from the audience. sanctuary to the back, creating natural speaker- like acoustics. It was a pleasure to perform there. Improvisation (how it's done), music performance More about the Kauai Shakuhachi Workshop: in general and what makes dialogues work were some of the topics that intrigued the audience. In http://finesketch.com/kauai-shakuhachi- all cases, the following qualities were repeatedly workshop-2014/ mentioned and unanimously valued. The Kauai Shakuhachi Workshop culminated at this year’s Lawai Pilgrimage of Compassion, held annually at the Lawai International Center for 4 Peace. All participants and teachers played a beautifully inspired ‘ro-buki’, while Riley Lee led the ‘pilgrims’ up the cliff face with 88 miniature shrines representing the temples along the famous Pilgrimage on Shikoku Japan. This event is so special and moving that it is difficult to describe. Here is a link to the Lawai Peace Center’s website: www.lawaicenter.org/pages/pilgrimage2014.html Location of Workshop ~~~ THE 2014 YOKOYAMA MEMORIAL SHAKUHACHI FESTIVAL, BISEI JAPAN. Honolulu rainbow Riley and maker Miura Ryuho During the weekend of 29-31 August, I was honoured to participate as a tutor/performer at the Yokoyama Memorial Shakuhachi Festival. The 5 Festival celebrated Yokoyama sensei, in particular Group sessions including all of the usual his creating the first ever World Shakuhachi elements required to play one’s shakuhachi well – Festival, exactly twenty years ago (August 1994). ro-buki, meri and kari, upper and lower octave, dynamics, breathing, tone quality (nothing Both the first World Festival and this latest changes!). Other sessions mainly focused on Memorial Festival were held at the International pieces that were being played en masse in one of Shakuhachi Centre, in the small town of Bisei the two public performances, some Honkyoku and deep in the mountains of Okayama.