ESS NEW YEAR CONCERT 2025
EVENT#3
19. JANUARY 2025
14h00 – 16h30 CET
Table below in order of appearance.
Besides the shakuhachi performances (mix of live and video) there will be a presentation of the WSF2025 by Marty Regan, as well as a short talk by the winner of the Composition Competition, Peter Dayton, about his new work for WSF2025.
| 14h00 CET | Welcome |
| Performers WSF2025, ESS guests & members | Piece |
| Zenyoji Keisuke | Sishi (Nezasaha Kinpū-ryū) |
| Christopher Yohmei Blasdel | Sagariha no Kyoku (Kinko/Chikumeisha) |
| Chris Molina | Stargazer’s Lullaby (C. Molina, 2021) |
| Alfredo Garcia (& Jesús & Kanoko) | Butterfly (A. Garcia/J. S. Huedo, 2024) |
| Tamara Rogozina | Daha |
| Akihito Obama | The Voice from the Sacred Places (A. Obama, 2024) |
| Marty Regan | WSF2025 presentation |
| Kyle Chōmei | San’An |
| SHORT BREAK (of 5’, approx around 15h10 CET) | |
| Joseph Pepe Danza | Tonbo No Tochi (Arrang. J. Danza) |
| Felix Brander | Geese Flying Southward (F. Brander, 2024) |
| Ramon Humet | Cuckoo (R. Humet, 2024) |
| James Nyoraku Schlefer | Tommy (extract) (J. Schlefer) |
| Hélène Seiyu Codjo | Sanya |
| Peter Dayton | Talk about Commission + Q&A |
| Martha Reika Fabrique | Takiochi (Jin Nyodo honkyoku) |
| Cornelius Boots | Wood Dragon Blues (C. Boots, 2024) |
| Jean-François Suizan Lagrost | Kangetsu (Tozan honkyoku) |
| Andrea Rother | Nebel (A. Rother, 2024) |
Programme
Performers / WSF2025
Christopher Yohmei Blasdel – Sagariha no Kyoku
Sagariha no Kyoku dates from the late 18th century is one of the most endearing pieces in the Kinko honkyoku repertory. Its elegant rhythmic phrases and delicate ornamentation conjure images of brightly colored autumn foliage fluttering down from the trees, while its quiet rhythm suggests the distant sounds of a flute music performed during a fall matsuri festival in Japan.
Christopher Yohmei Blasdel studied under Living National Treasure Goro Yamaguchi from 1972 until 1999 and received an MFA in ethnomusicology from Tokyo University of the Arts I 1982. In his musical activities, Christopher balances the traditional and modern, improvisation and cross-genre work with musicians, dancers, poets and visual artists. His semi-autobiographical book, The Single Tone—A Personal Journey through Shakuhachi Music and The Shakuhachi, A Manual for Learning (both available on Kindle) are two of the most important English language resource books on the shakuhachi. yohmei.com
Cornelius Boots – Wood Dragon Blues (2024)
2024 was the year of the Wood Dragon, and it ends this month. Then we will enter the Wood Snake starting in February 2025. Written at the beginning of 2024, and ideally played on a bigger jinashi flute (like the 2.74 Taimu I am playing), this piece is the latest in my original solo nature blues repertoire. These pieces require and transmit a distinctive, expressive style and form a subset of the Black Earth Shakuhachi School in-house catalogue which is nearly a hundred pieces thick, including compositions and arrangements.
Cornelius Boots started studying shakuhachi in 2001 with Michael Chikuzen Gould, from whom he earned the name Shinzen 深禅 in 2012, a Shihan in 2013 and a Dai Shihan in 2022. From 2016 onward, Boots has played only jinashi shakuhachi with an emphasis on big bamboo (Taimu) and original nature blues. He is the founder of Black Earth Shakuhachi School, and the leader/composer of the Wood Prophets, the world’s first bass shakuhachi group. He lives in Pennsylvania. corneliusboots.com
Kyle Chōmei – San’An
San’An, often known as the ‘Safe Birthing prayer,’ is a traditional Shakuhachi honkyoku piece that symbolises protection, new beginnings, and the nurturing of life. Its flowing, dynamic phrases and meditative depth evoke a sense of care, tranquility, and stillness, inviting listeners to reflect on themes of renewal and hope.
Kyle Chōmei, born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1973, moved to Wayne, PA, in 1987. A graduate from the Philosophy Department of Villanova University, he is currently a shakuhachi performer, teacher, and ji-nashi shakuhachi maker based in Dubai. Awarded the professional name Chōmei by the Chikumeisha, he teaches both Kinko Ryu and Watazumido shakuhachi methods. Kyle’s holistic approach integrates the discipline of martial breathing with the meditative practice of shakuhachi, offering a unique blend of cultural and personal development.
Hélène Seiyu Codjo – San’ya
This version of San’ya version is by Miyata Kōhachiro, handed down through Fukuda Teruhisa. “This piece is in arch form, with a central section higher in pitch and more agitated than the opening and closing sections. The title means Three Valleys”.
Hélène Seiyu 聖優 is a shakuhachi teacher and performer living in the Netherlands since 2013. In 2023, she received her Dai shihan licence from Fukuda Teruhisa, founder of Hijiri-Kai. The spirituality of shakuhachi and playing in nature are essential for her. She likes to bring shakuhachi music elsewhere than in concert halls. She has released two solo shakuhachi CDs with her own compositions: African Memories (2020) and Reflection (2021).
Peter Dayton – Winner of the WSF2025 Composition Competition
Peter will talk about the composition commission, which is for soprano, shakuhachi, 13-string koto, and cello. Also he will talk about the text that the soprano will sing and its author, my relationship to Japanese music, my ideas about the structure of the piece, and the challenges of notation for the instrument as a composer who does not perform on a traditional instrument with different technique schools.
Peter Dayton, described as a “composer whose heart and care are palpable,” writes lyrical and powerful vocal, solo, and chamber music. His recent releases, All in the Sound: New Vocal Music by Peter Dayton (Navona Records, 2023) and Stories Out of Cherry Stems: Katie Procell sings works by Peter Dayton (2022), were each nominated for Critic’s Choice by Opera News, which praised Dayton’s “fresh and interesting sounds.” Dayton holds degrees from Vanderbilt University and Peabody Conservatory. He has been a proud resident of Baltimore, Maryland since 2014: www.peterdaytonmusic.com/
Martha Reika Fabrique – Takiochi
Ryugenji Takiochi – South of Izu-Ohito is found the Asahi Waterfall which is said to be 33 jo (1 jo = 10 shaku or 3.31 yards) high. Near the pool below the falls was the komuso temple called Ryugen-ji and it is said that this piece was composed there. There is also a Kinko version of this piece, however, the Ryugen-ji piece is much more classically ordered in form and has a clearer sense of formality. Jin Nyodo learned and passed on Ryugenji Takiochi from Horiguchi Zeku of the Fudai-ji tradition.
Martha Reika Fabrique has been an active performer and scholar of the shakuhachi for over 25 years. She gave performances at the World Shakuhachi Festival 2008 in Sydney, Australia and presented the lecture New Horizons: Women and the Japanese Shakuhachi. Her teachers include KURAHASHI Yōdō II (Kyoto, Japan), Stan Kakudo Richardson (Dallas, TX), David Kansuke Wheeler (Boulder, CO) and Dr. Dale Olsen. Martha received a shihan license and the name Reika from KURAHASHI Yōdō II in 2018.
Zenyoji Keisuke – Shishi (Nezasaha Kinpū-ryu)
This piece is said to be a piece of “wisdom” because it is a lion that follows Monju Bosatsu (Manjusri). Also, in Japanese New Year’s local entertainment, the lion is a “deer,” and like this “lion dance,” I would like to play this piece to pray for peace in the coming year.
ZENYŌJI Keisuke was initiated into komusō shakuhachi at the age of six. He graduated from Tokyo University of Fine Arts from the Department of Japanese Traditional Music and studied under ‘Living National Treasure’, YAMAGUCHI Gorō. He performed his first solo recital in 1999. ZENYŌJI won among others, the prestigious Grand Excellence Award of the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2017. He also published a shakuhachi practice book ‘Shakuhachi for the First Time’ .
Jean-François Suizan Lagrost – Kangestu
Kangetsu (寒月, The Cold Winter Moon) is a honkyoku of the Tozan school, composed by school founder Nakao Tozan in February 1911. It is based on a theme from chokudai 勅題, a poetic joust that takes place every year during the New Year period: 「寒月梅花を照らす」-‘Kangetsu umebana o terasu’ – ‘The cold moon lights up the plum blossom’.
Suizan Lagrost is a recognised artist in both traditional Japanese music and Western music. Dai-shihan of the Tozan school of shakuhachi, he’s regularly invited in France and abroad for concerts, masterclasses or international competition juries. In 2020, he inaugurates a series of portraits dedicated to Western shakuhachi players in Hōgaku Journal. Holder of a DEA in 20th century music from Sorbonne University, he currently teaches flute and shakuhachi near Paris. He represents ShinTozan school in France.
Akihito Obama – The Voice from the Sacred Places (A. Obama, 2024)
The “sacred places of the shakuhachi” are home to statues of Buddha, monuments, architectural structures, and nature. Long before I arrived there, it must have been a place where many people offered their thoughts, prayers, and the sound of the shakuhachi resonated. Just standing before it fills me with profound emotion. I listen intently to the silent voices of those who came before me and reflect on the meaning of playing the shakuhachi in this world.
OBAMA Akihito studied Kinko style shakuhachi and classical honkyoku with ISHIKAWA Toshimitsu. He studied min’yō(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.
He has performed in 35 different countries around the world and released several CDs, including one with his original compositions entitled Sui (Water), and Lotus Position with pianist YAMASHITA Yosuke. He is a part-time faculty member at Gakushuin University.
James Nyoraku Schlefer – Tommy (extract)
Tommy is a musical interpretation of a real historical event; the first ever visit of Japanese ambassadors to New York City in 1860. It brings together two of my worlds; that of a native New Yorker and of someone who has a profound interest in Japanese music and history. The music is written for sankyoku and string quartet.
James Nyoraku Schlefer is an American Grand Master of the shakuhachi and a teacher in the Kinko school following the lineage of Jin Nyodo. He received his dai-shihan certificate in 2001, and his second shihan certificate in 2008, from the Mujuan Dojo in Kyoto. His teachers included Yoshio Kurahashi, Reibo Aoki, Katsuya Yokoyama, Kifu Mitsuhashi and Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin.
As a composer, Nyoraku specializes in chamber and orchestral works combining Japanese and Western instruments. In 2015, he was recognized by Musical America Worldwide as one of their “30 Top Professionals and Key Influencers” for his work both as a composer and Artistic Director of Kyo-Shin-An Arts.
Performers / ESS guests & members
Felix Brander – Geese Flying Southward
Geese Flying Southward is a piece created during the workshop with Chris Molina and it is Felix´s first attempt at composing music. The piece is a wish for safe passage and safe return for birds flying south for winter.
Felix Brander first found the Shakuhachi in 2020 and fell in love with it. He struggled for 3 years by himself before finding the ESS and is currently studying Myoan and Zensebo styles with Kiku Day.
Joseph Pepe Danza – Tonbo No Tochi
This composition was written based on an improvisation recorded at a retreat center in Lithuania called Dragonfly Land. I liked what I heard so I arranged it a bit and notated it.
A modern piece with a honkyoku spirit.
Joseph Pepe Danza heard the Shakuhachi for the first time in 1978, while living in Washington DC, and was instantly hooked! Pepe Danza finally landed in Japan, where he lived for three years dedicated intensively to the study of Shakuhachi, with Tanaka Komei sensei (Kinko-ryū) and John Kaizan Neptune, where he also deepened his study and practice of Buddhism. As a recording artist Danza has received several awards, while living in Canada, for his compositions in film and theatre. He presently resides in Slovakia and tours intensively around Europe.
Alfredo Garcia (& Jesús & Kanoko) – A Butterfly
Improvisaton with dance. The piece and the video performance will be based on Yosa Buson’s haiku:
釣鐘に止まりてねむる胡蝶かな
tsurigane ni tomarite nemuru kocho kana
on the temple bell
sleeping
a butterfly
Jesús Saiz Huedo and Alfredo Garciá Martín-Córdova have been performing as a duo since 1986. After years of interpreting music from the 19th century to today, they focus on developing expressive resources both from printed music of various genres and from improvisation. They incorporate the unique sound of the shakuhachi and have started collaborating with Kanoko Tamura, a performer trained in contemporary dance and butoh, who also explores expressiveness and improvisation.
Ramon Humet – Cuckoo
Cuckoo is part of a collection of seven easy pieces that I am composing aimed at beginners, but with a musicality and expression to be concert pieces. Cuckoo is an evocation of the song of the bird based on the chi-re motif.
Ramon Humet (Barcelona, 1968) began his shakuhachi journey in 2004 with Horacio Curti. He currently studies with Kakizakai Kaoru, focusing on the KSK honkyoku repertoire, although he also studies contemporary music repertoire for shakuhachi. Ramon is a professional composer with a catalog of works that embraces opera, electronic music, choir and, of course, the shakuhachi! His concerto for shakuhachi and symphony orchestra “Desert” was premiered by Horacio Curti and the National Orchestra of Spain. www.ramonhumet.com
Chris Molina – Stargazer’s Lullabyq (Hae In Lee, 25-string gayageum)
While dreaming of distant planets, murky nebulae, and the radiant suns they give birth to, I wrote this lullaby — partly for a friend with a baby boy, partly for my own insomnia. The music joins Korean or Japanese zither with Japanese or Korean bamboo flute, interchangeably in four combinations. Inspired by the songs of Meredith Monk, a gentle and hypnotic rhythm lulls us to sleep, as whimsical melody muses with the occasional shooting star.
Chris Molina is a composer and shakuhachi performer based in Tokyo. His music draws on East Asian and Western classical traditions, jazz and folk, as well as aesthetics relating to the natural world. A graduate of the Universities of Michigan and Hawai’i, his dissertation addresses the vocabulary of Tōru Takemitsu‘s mature orchestrations. His works have been premiered by the Takács and St. Petersburg Quartets, the Shanghai Philharmonic, the University of Michigan and Sage City Symphonies, by gayageum virtuoso Jiyoung Yi and koto virtuoso Mieko Miyazaki. His music can be heard at youtube.com/stonechapelmusic
Tamara Rogozina – Daha
Daha / Pounding Wave. There are times when strong, intense, and unyielding determinations, like the ocean waves pounding at the cliff face, is appropriate. Other times, gentle, patient and unceasing will power, like the quiet waves lapping at the base of the cliff, gives better results.
Tamara Rogozina has been perfecting her shakuhachi flute skills since 2012. She attended the Shakuhachi Summer School in 2016 and in 2017 as well as the World Shakuhachi Festival in London in 2018. Her teachers are Sergey Maksimenko and Kiku Day with whom she is studying the Zensabo style of shaku- hachi. Tamara also likes to aquaint herself with other styles.
Andrea Rother – Nebel
My piece is called Nebel (Fog) and it imagines the way swathes of fog alternate with clearer fields of vision. And then, once you reached a certain altitude, how it feels to seemingly float above the fog.
Andrea Rother studied music with recorder, cello and piano at the conservatory in Munich and completed a concert degree in ‘Early Music’ and medieval music with Kees Boeke and Pedro Memmelsdorf. She worked as a freelancer and lecturer at the University of Augsburg. She now works as a Montessori teacher at a private Montessori school, including five years as its headmistress. She has been studying shakuhachi with Jim Franklin since 2019. She lives in southern Bavaria, Germany.