Shakuhachi Camp at Sunrise Ranch

Shakuhachi Summer Camp is an intense learning opportunity. All efforts are made to involve students right from the first day, with getting to grips with the technical and musicological aspects of playing the shakuhachi flute. It’s a teaching Camp, from dawn to dusk (and beyond). The emphasis is on depth of instruction and the formation of good playing ‘bones’, which you can carry away with you.

Upon arrival at Camp, you will see, milling around, others who are just as obsessed as you are about all things shakuhachi. Some arrive by car, some by shuttle from the airport. Along with the American/Canadian students, we are always blessed with a sizable number of students from Japan, many of whom do not speak English, but in the harmony of shared shakuhachi experience, it matters not a whit! Classes are often taught bilingually, since all the teachers are bilingual speakers. The Japanese students often have traveled a different path to the US students. Many have studied shakuhachi for decades and Camp is an unusual opportunity for them to encounter a variety of shakuhachi modalities in one place. This year, because of our location and relationship to the World Festival, we expect to have a huge number of Japanese and Australian students.

Beginner Students

Beginner students will follow a specidfically engineered program of instruction that will cover all the basic tools and techniques of shakuhachi: posture, sound production, pitch, second and third octaves, care of the flute, notation systems, honkyoku and many other aspects. This will be taught by all of the teachers, each of whom will take a different topic and spend a lot of time with you, making sure beginner students have a solid underpinning of good practice. If you do not have a functional flute, let us know before Camp. We can set you up with a ‘loaner’ flute for the duration, and shakuhachi of all types are always available for sale at Camp. A 1.8 flute in ‘D’ is the required length. Each beginner student will leave Camp with a handbook and access to recorded pieces they have learned.

Intermediate Students

We want students to be able to not only play the notes of a piece, but also to encounter the musicological background of the compositions in a format which gives more time to each piece and frirmly establishes each piece with the student. To this end, we will make available the recorded pieces and a set of scores to Intermediate Camp attendees well in advance, and encourage students to practice the pitches and rythmic accuracy of the pieces they want to study, ahead of time.

"Shakuhachi Spiritual Practice" by Jia Gottlieb M.D.

The shakuhachi is considered by many to be a spiritual tool for Zen training. But what does this really mean for the shakuhachi player? This year we are pleased to offer camp participants an in-depth introduction to the spiritual aspect of shakuhachi led by Jia Gottlieb. We will explore practical physical issues of breath control and meditative posture, as well as the art of enjoying emptiness in everyday life. Jia has over twenty-five years of training in Zen, yoga, and acupuncture, and directs Still Mountain Clinic in Boulder, Colorado, www.jiamd.com.

Sessions begin each morning 1 hour prior to breakfast. Additional Cost: $40 for all four days. See Jia for Details.

The Daily Schedule

We start each day by playing ‘Ro’ for about 5 minutes, all together, then we talk about the day’s activities, scheduling, rooms etc., before morning group practice, then we all go off in small groups to learn our chosen pieces. At any given slot in the timetable, there are several options to choose from, in terms of pieces or teachers you prefer to be with that day. Beginner students will follow their own timetable. In the evenings, activities other than teaching take place. This year we continue a new morning practice: each day all students together will spend the first hour together studying one aspect of shakuhachi technique, such as: Breathing and Movement, Meri-kari, yuri vibration, ha-ra-ro, Timing and rhythm, Ko-ro ko-ro etc. Each day, one technique will be taught in great depth by a different teacher, to the whole group, including beginners.

	morning	afternoon	EVENING
THURSDAY	Arrival	1-5pm Lessons	TBA
FRIDAY	8:30am Ro-buki 9:00am-10am Group 10:30am-12am lessons	1-5pm Lessons	7:30 PM Student’s Concert in the Dome
SATURDAY	8:30am Ro-buki 9:00am-10am Group 10:30am-12am lessons	1-4pm Lessons	7:30 PM Master’s Concert in the Dome
SUNDAY	8:30am Ro-buki 9:00am-10am Group 10:30am-12am lessons	1-5pm Lessons	7:30 PM Duet night, or just hang in the hot tub!
MONDAY	8:30am Ro-buki 9:00am-10am Group 10:30am-12am lessons	Departure

The Teaching Faculty

Yoshio Kurahashi

Yoshio Kurahashi is one of Japan’s great Master Shakuhachi flute players. He has been with this beautiful and evocative bamboo instrument for more than 40 years. His father, also a famous shakuhachi player, was his first teacher as a young boy and Kurahashi-sensei eventually became head of his father’s dojo: Mujuan dojo. In a career spanning 30 years, Yoshio Kurahashi has garnered esteem and accolades from the four corners of the traditional Japanese music world. He is recognised both in Japan and in many countries abroad as a genteel ambassador of shakuhachi and Japanese hogaku traditional music in general. He regularly performs at major concert venues in the USA and his travels and teaching take him all over the world, as far as Israel, Malaysia, China, Thailand, Singapore and Canada. His recordings have won awards and he has appeared often on television in Japan.

Yoko Hiraoka

Yoko Hiraoka, a certified master of koto and shamisen, directs the Koto Music Institute of Boulder. She has instructed koto and shamisen performance both in the US and Japan for 20 years. She has a wide ranging repertoire in terms of performance styles including traditional, modern, improvisational and contemporary genres not often associated with the koto. Since moving to Boulder in 1993 she has been instrumental in developing local programs supporting music played on traditional Japanese instruments while actively teaching and performing regionally and internationally. Yoko Hiraoka website: www.japanesestrings.com

Dr. Riley Lee

Dr. Riley Lee has been playing the shakuhachi since 1971 and has studied with Chikuho Sakai and Katsuya Yokoyama. In 1980, he became the first non-Japanese to attain the rank of Dai Shihan (grand master), and has lectured at the University of Hawaii, toured extensively in Japan, Canada, Europe, Australia and the USA.

He has produced at least 20 best-selling recordings of shakuhachi music and has a Ph.D. degree in ethnomusicology from the University of Sydney (topic: shakuhachi honkyoku transmission).

Author of numerous articles about the instrument, he lives with his family west of Sydney in the Blue Mountains.

Kaoru Kakizakai

Kaoru Kakizakai, born in Saitama Prefecture, began shakuhachi studies at age 21. While a student at Aoyama University he began studying with Katsuya Yokoyama. In 1987 he graduated from NHK Traditional Music Conservatory and in 1997 won the grand award for the All Japan Hogaku Competition. As one of the main instructors in Yokoyama’s Kokusai Shakuhachi Kenshu Kan, he has traveled extensively abroad and participated in Yokoyama’s CD’s and videos. He impressed WSF ‘98 crowds at the “Shakuhachi at Chautauqua” concert with his long-flute performances, and WSF ’98 participants with his warm teaching style and sterling technique. Click for Kaoru Kakizakai web bio and music samples.

David Wheeler

David Wheeler, musician and ethnomusicol ogist, entered the tutelage of shakuhachi master Junsuke Kawase III in 1977. He received his M.A. in musicology from the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music in 1985. Since 1982 he has been performing, teaching, lecturing and writing about shakuhachi and Japanese music both in Japan and the US. David specializes in the classical tradition but performance activities cover the full range of music today from Japanese to Western and classical to the avant garde. David was one of the main organizers of World Shakuhachi Festival 1998 and presently resides and teaches in Colorado while maintaining an active touring schedule playing locally as well as abroad. David Wheeler’s website www.duosokyo.com

Michael Gould

Michael Gould began his study of shakuhachi in 1982 under renowned master, Taniguchi Yoshinobu. Specializing in Koden Honkyoku of the Watazumi Do style. He received the rank of Shihan in 1987 and was given the professional name Chikuzen. From 1989-1994 he was a member of the International Shakuhachi Center in Okayama, Japan where he studied under Yokoyama Katsuya. He was given the title of Dai Shihan in 1992. Although based in Ann Arbor, Michigan where he sometimes teaches and lectures at the University of Michigan, Michael is often traveling around the country giving special masters workshops to teachers and students in San Francisco, New York, Seattle and Boulder Colorado. He has performed over four hundred times since his return to the U.S. at numerous universities, art museums and galleries, private gatherings and festivals and has been a teacher at the Shakuhachi Summer Camp at Boulder, Colorado in 1998 and 1999. See Web Bio.

Christopher Yohmei Blasdel

Yohmei Christopher Yohmei Blasdel, born in Texas, began studying shakuhachi and Japanese music with Goro Yamaguchi in 1972. He received a teaching license and the professional name "Yohmei" from Yamaguchi in 1984. At the same time, he completed graduate work in ethnomusicology at Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music. A permanent resident of Japan, he has performed, taught and lectured throughout China, Thailand, Europe, North America, Mexico, India, Malaysia and the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. His book ‘A Shakuhachi Odyssey’, published in Japanese by Kawade Shobo Shinsha, was awarded the prestigious Rennyo Award for non-fiction. (Now published as ‘The Single Tone’ in English). He has also published the definitive work on shakuhachi history and study, ‘The Shakuhachi : A manual for learning’, soon to appear in Japanese translation. www.yohmei.com

Registration & More Info

Accommodations & Food

Overnight accommodations include three wholesome meals and two snacks and are per person per 24-hour period. Please register online or phone (970) 679-4200 for further information.