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Beyond Japan Update
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Vancouver Shakuhachi Festival
November 14, 15, 16, 2003
@The Univeristy of British Columbia
Greetings from British Columbia, Canada! The VSF 2003 was a GREAT success! I will give you a perspective of some of the highlights of the experience as the organizer of the event.
Before I begin, I'd like to give a warm thanks to The Japan Foundation, University of British Columbia, and the UBC Asian Centre, The Consul General of Japan, The 75th Anniversary of Japan/Canada Relations Society, International Shakuhachi Research Centre (Kokusai Shakuhachi Kenshukan), International Resource Fund, Tai Hei Shakuhachi, and everyone who participated and helped make this Festival a wonderful event.
Roots of the VSF
In the summer of 1994 I attended the First International Shakuhachi Festival in Bisei, Okayama-ken, Japan, hometown of Katsuya Yokoyama. At the time I was only a fledgling three year old shakuhachi player studying in the countryside of Yamaguchi Prefecture. A year earlier I had met and befriended Christopher Yohmei Blasdel in Kyoto, who played a mesmerizing concert in the misty grounds of a beautiful old Buddhist temple. It was he who told me about the upcoming International Shakuahchi Festival and about Katsuya Yokoyama. There was no way I was going to miss this incredible event.
At the Bisei Festival, my life changed forever. I heard Yokoyama Sensei and his students play honkyoku for the first time. And even more than that, I was moved that Yokoyama Sensei could bring so many styles together in such a harmonious way to give workshops, lectures, and concerts. It was wonderful. I met and heard many great shakuhachi spirits as well...Katsuya Yokoyama, Yamaguchi Goro, Aoki Reibo, Ronnie Seldin, Ray Brooks, John Neptune, Lawrence Huff, Anne Norman, Taro Miura, Michael Gould, Marco Lienhard, Riley Lee, Kaoru Kakizakai, Kazushi Matama, Teruo Furuya, Akikazu Nakamura, Dan Ribble, David Wheeler, Yoshikazu Iwamoto, Masaru Kuroda....That's also where I first met Cory Sperry for the first time as well, while he was trying out Yamaguchi Shugetsu's 3.0s on the lawn in front of the main outdoor stage. Later, Cory was to organize the great World Shakuhachi Festival in Boulder, Colorado in 1998.
In 1996 I moved to Vancouver Canada with my then fiancee (and now wife) Sandra Chung. I began teaching shakuhachi and building my music career in this beautiful city. I met local shakuhachi people, Elliot Weisgarber, Norman Stanfield, Takeo Yamashiro, and Ray Brooks, pioneers in shakuhachi propagation in Canada and North America. It was here that I had the dream of doing a shakuhachi festival in Vancouver. I must make a special mention about Takeo Yamashiro and Ray Brooks. Takeo Yamashiro has been playing shakuhachi in Canada for the last 30 years and has done a great deal in introducing the instrument to many people through the years. When we met, our friendship was immediate and throughout my time in Vancouver he has been so supportive of all my efforts at living a shakuhachi life. Without him, the VSF couldn't have taken place. Ray Brooks was also one of the first people I met when I moved to Vancouver and he has been so inspiring with his boundless enthusiasm for shakuhachi and honkyoku which have inspired me tremendously as well. His support and well-wishes through the years have meant a great deal to me.
In 1998 I attended the WSF in Boulder Colorado. At the time, my health had hit a major low, but this event was so important that I drug my deteriorating body to the event and tried to summon as much energy as I could to enjoy it. Despite all the pain and suffering, I attended as many workshops and concerts as I could, and met many friends from Japan as well made many new ones. I was totally moved and inspired to forge on in doing a shakuhachi festival in Vancouver. The organizers of the WSF '98 did an incredible job!
In 1999 I returned to Japan for an intensive 2-year study of shakuhachi and returned to Vancouver in 2001 to start my work again growing shakuhachi in Vancouver.
VSF 2003
The idea of doing a Vancouver Shakuhachi Festival has been a dream of mine for a long time, but it didn't really seem feasible till this year (2003). I found out that Bertil Petersson, a long time student of Katsuya Yokoyama was also living in Vancouver so I contacted him and we became fast friends and we decided to team up to accomplish the VSF. Earlier we wondered what time of the year we should hold it and maybe postponing it till 2005. But in May, Kakizakai sensei encouraged us to have it in November. So we had only five months to organize it all.
My first worry was where to hold the festival. We tossed around several ideas and called several places weighing the cost of each place. But they all seemed way too expensive for our non-existent budget. I got together with all the other shakuhachi people in Vancouver to form a team to make the VSF happen. They were Norman Stanfield, Takeo Yamashiro, Bertil Petersson, and myself. Norman was a blessing for this event as he is a professor of ethnomusicology at the University of British Columbia with a love for shakuhachi and Japanese Music, and it was he that secured us the use of the beautiful UBC Asian Centre for a very reasonable price.
Now that we had a place to hold it, all that was left now were the details of making a website, advertising, and extra funding and sponsorship. Again luck was on our side as we got support from the Japan Foundation as well as Japanese Consulate and a few other private organizations. My biggest worry at that time was that I had to go to Europe for the whole month of October so I would be away from organzing the Festival a month before the date. Thankfully my wonderful wife, Sandra, is an expert organizer and bookkeeper as well as graphic designer, so she took care of all the details and advertising while I was gone.
When I got back from Europe, we (the VSF staff) made the entire schedule for the festival and did some last minute advertising through newspaper, magazines, radio, and TV. An auspicious sign was that a week before the Festival I hosted the Harmonic Concordance Ceremony in Vancouver and played at the Vancouver Sacred Music festival which also attracted more people to come to the VSF.
Day 1: Nov. 14
The next day it all started at 4 PM. It was all kind of dream-like as we saw all the participants arrive; connecting all the names with the faces. At 5 PM we all gathered into the main auditorium where I introduced everyone involved with the VSF. Then I gave the space over to Kakizakai Sensei to use for a mass group lesson. He led the class elegantly and in English as well! Starting with RO buki he went into a lecture on basic blowing technique to create the best sound. After one hour we took a break then we divided the class in two. Matama sensei and Bertil took the most basic students into another room to give more specific teaching. Kakizakai stayed in the main hall to go on further with the advance students.
After class, we had a welcome dinner at One More Sushi restaurant near campus. Most everyone came and we got a chance to get acquainted with other paricipants.
Day 2; Nov. 15
The next morning at 8:30 AM we all gathered in the basement music room of the Asian Centre where we started the day with 15 minutes of RO buki. After announcements, classes started.
Classes went well. Bertil, Matama, and I taught basic classes while Kakizakai taught an advanced class. In the afternoon, we had a round-table discussion about "the appeal of honkyoku" in which Norman chaired; the panel consisting of Kakizakai, Matama, Bertil, and me. Larry Tyrrell, who traveled all the way from Oregon to partake in the VSF helped with the translating between Japanese and English.
The highlight of the Saturday was the student recital in the evening. Three Komuso-dressed shakuhachi players played long tones as the invocation of the evening then we all enjoyed a night of beautiful music. All level of shakuhachi players played and it was wonderful!
The set list was:
1. Paramita by Ryohei Hirose played by Robert Bick (Al Ramos on drone)
2. A folk piece by Miyuki Tanemura
3. Yamabiko--Ronan Nanning (acc. by Al Ramos)
4. Chidori no Hama--Barbara McConneville and Marg Sutton
5. Kumoi Jishi--Kurita, Matsumoto, and Kuroda and Kimura on koto
6. Daha--James Jennings
7. Embers, Cause of My Sorrow, Chimerical--original pieces by Larry Tyrrell
8. Itsuki no Komoriuta--Hugh Barclay
9. Native American Flute presentation by Jacob Trezvant
10. Tsukikusa no Yume--Shirley Embra, Larry Tyrrell, Miyuki Tanemura, Ronan Nanning, and Tomoko Kimura, with Megu Kakizakai on koto.
11. Esashi Oiwake--Masami Kurita
Day 3: Nov. 16
The final day started much like yesterday with RO buki at 8:30 AM then announcements. This morning was devoted to private lessons from all the teachers. In the afternoon there was a workshop on shakuhachi making given by Masami Kurita with translation from Takeo Yamashiro. Norman gave a lecture on Komuso garb as well as led an actual zazen session.
It all culminated in the final concert at 7 PM given by the teachers in the evening in the Asian Centre main auditorium. The auditorium was filled nearly to capacity from folks from all over BC area. It was really great to see so many people present for this special offering of shakuhachi music. As they did yesterday at the student recital, the three Komuso invoked the evening with long tones as they walked from the entrance to the front of stage area. But this time they were followed by all the shakuhachi students who surrounded the periphery of the auditorium. After the long tones, we all played the piece Tamuke en mass which was a truly moving experience.
The set list was as follows:
1. Tamuke (everyone)
2. Haru no Umi (Kaoru and Megu Kakizakai)
3. Kumoi Jishi (Kazushi Matama, Bertil Peter sson, Al Ramos.
4. Syrinx (Norman Stanfield)
5. Betusden Tsuru no Sugomori (Kazushi Matama)
6. Kokuu (Kaoru Kakizakai)
7. Mu Ju Shin Kyoku (Takeo Yamashiro was scheduled to play this piece but couldn't make it due to health problems.)
8. Shun Sui (Kakizakai, Al)
9. Seki Shun (Matama and Tomoko Kimura)
10. Shika no Tone (Kakizakai and Matama)
After the concert we had a final farewell dinner at One More Sushi restaurant again where we had a raffle of shakuhachi items. Thanks again to Monty Levenson of Tai Hei Shakuhachi for generously donating many nice shakuhachi items for the raffle.
I'd like to make a special thanks to the following people who gave their energy selflessly to help make the VSF an enjoyable experience for everyone: Bill Buitendyk, Rich Powers, Larry Tyrrell, Milan Gelon, Hilda Nanning, Akiko Baba, Wakako Iga, and Sandra Ramos... and of course Kaoru Kakizakai, Kazushi Matama, Bertil Petersson, Takeo Yamashiro, Norman Stanfield, Megu Kakizakai, Tomoko Kimura, Masami Kurita, Masaru Kuroda, Atsunori Matsumoto, and Shoichi Kato.
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