2008 SSBC Shinnenkai (New Year's Party)

date: January 19 , 2008

time: 1 PM-4 PM

venue: Peter Smith's house: 5187 Windsor

Cost: free!

details:

As usual, this event is a potluck so bring please  bring a tasty (and healthy) goodie! We'll view a slide show of photos from the last Shakuhachi Roots Pilgrimage #4. We'll all play a piece to chime in the new year!

Zen Shakuhachi Performance at UCSB

web: http://mcc.sa.ucsb.edu/index.aspx

date: Friday, January 25, 2008

time: 8 PM

venue: UCSB MultiCultural Center, University Center Room 1504
           Santa Barbara, CA 93106

details:

The first peformance of the year for Alcvin at his alma mater, the University ofCalifornia, Santa Barbara on the road to the World Shakuhachi Festival in Sydney, Australia in July and ultimately back to Japan for the Roots Pilgrimage #5!

Tickets $5 for students and $15 general admission. Contact the Associated Students Ticket Office at 893-2064.

2008 SSBC Fukizome (First Blowing of the Lunar New Year)

date: February 9, 2008

time: 12 PM-

venue:4209 West 16th Ave., Vancouver, BC Tel: 778-371-1350

Mapquest directions:

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&addtohistory=

&address=4209%20W%2016th%20Avenue&city=Vancouver&state=BC&zipcode

=V6R&country=CA&geodiff=1

Cost: Suggested donation $10

details: This February 9, at 12:00 noon, the Vancouver contingent of the SSBC

will be holding their semi-formal shakuhachi first blow of the New Year in

Vancouver, British Columbia at the tea house of Ayako Sakaino. There will

be semi-formal shakuhachi performances by all attending shakuhachi players

after a formal tea ceremony by tea master, Ayako Sakaino.

Sakaino Sensei has been practicing Japanese tea ceremony for over 30 year

s and is one of the leading teachers in Canada.

Suggested donation: $10.00.

RSVP to ramos@dccnet.com.

2nd Annual Victoria Tea Festival

web: http://www.victoriateafestival.com/

date: February 17, 2008

time: All day

venue: Victoria Conference Centre

details:

The Victoria Tea Festival is an annual destination event for the city of Victoria, and the Pacific Northwest, in which consumers and businesses and alike can indulge in an educational tea experience exploring the traditions and trends of tea, while supporting a worthy cause - Camosun College Child Care Services. The one day event features tea tastings, delectable tea-food selections, exquisite tea wares, lectures and demonstrations on a variety of topics by experts in the industry, opportunities to purchase hundreds of teas and tea-related products, and much more.

Family Show @ RHIZOME Cafe

web: http://www.rhizomecafe.ca/

date: Sunday, March 2, 2008

time: 5 PM-6 PM

venue: Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway, Vancouver, BC

details:

Shakuhachi Flute master, Alcvin Takegawa Ramos will be giving an short presentation about shakuhachi and didgeridoo.

DENSABI

web: http://densabi.wordpress.com/

date: Tuesday, March 18, 2008

time: 8 PM-10 PM

venue: The Cellar Restaurant, 3611 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC

details:

Come and hear Densabi perform at the Cellar Jazz Club and Restaurant on Tuesday March 18. With any luck it will also be a CD release party for us as well, celebrating our inaugural release.

Alcvin Takegawa Ramos, Bernie Arai and Chris Gestrin use a veritable cornucopia of acoustic, electric and electronic instruments in collaboration to create incredibly lush and evocative, spontaneous electro-acoustic (acousto-electric?) soundscapes and improvised absolute music. Their music is a unique and fascinating exploration into the the aesthetic concept of wabi-sabi; seeking the beauty of deterioration and impermanence through sounds and structures old and new in the realm of electronic ambient music.

Since forming in February 2006 Densabi have performed in such diverse venues as art galleries, night clubs and at an outdoor lantern festival.

Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Cherry Jam @ Burrard Station

web: http://www.vancouvercherryblossomfestival.com/2008/

date: Monday, March 25, 2008

time: 12 noon

venue: Burrard Skytrain Station

details:

Cherry Jam Downtown will kick off the third annual festival Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at Burrard SkyTrain Station. This free lunch-time concert from noon to 1:30pm celebrates the blossoming of the city’s 36,000 Japanese flowering cherry trees as the quintessential symbol of Spring. The jam will feature Dharmakasa, Taiko Drumming and Dueling with Chibi Taiko and Tera Taiko, The Vancouver Symphony Brass Quintet with Blossom Brass, Suzka Gypsy Jazz Violin and more!

24th Annual Vancouver Mokuyokai Society Ohanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) at Nitobe Memorial Garden

web: www.mokuyokai.bc.ca

date: Saturday, April 12

time: 3 PM-8 PM

venue: UBC Nitobe Gardens and Asian Centre

Time: 3:00-8:00 p.m. (lanterns lit at 6:45)
Date: Saturday, April 12, 2008
Place: Nitobe Memorial Garden and Asian Centre, UBC.

Find peace of mind beneath the splendor of cherry blossoms as you drink in the tranquility of an authentic Japanese tea ceremony and relax to the soothing tones of shakuhachi (bamboo flute) and koto (Japanese harp). Take a guided tour of the authentic Japanese garden, enjoy some refreshing matcha, origami demonstrations, the photo and haiku challenge, try on a traditional Yukata and enjoy a Japanese bento dinner. Top off your day with a tour of the garden by lantern-light, a magical, once-yearly event at Nitobe that should not be missed. Nitobe Memorial Garden is considered to be the one of the most authentic Japanese gardens in North America and among the top five Japanese gardens outside of Japan. Entrance to the Nitobe Memorial Garden is by donation during the Ohanami event.

For more details about this or other Vancouver Mokuyokai Society events, including maps and photos from previous Ohanami check our website at: www.mokuyokai.bc.ca.

The Vancouver Mokuyokai Society would like to thank the following organizations for their support with this year's Ohanami: UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research, Urasenke Tankokai Vancouver Association, Muzi Tea, Junko's Kitchen, the Shakuhachi Society of BC, Ichibankan and the University of British Columbia.

See you in the garden!

Tour to Germany w/ Uzume Taiko, April - May 2007

UZUME TAIKO

Japanese-Canadian Drum Spirit

17.04.08 Dreieich – Bürgerhaus

18.04.08 Waldshut-Tiengen – Stadthalle

19.04.08 Friedrichshafen – Bahnhof Fischbach 20 15

http://www.bahnhof-fischbach.de

20.04.08 Puchheim – Kulturzentrum PUC 19 oo

http://puc.puchheim.de/www/

23.04.08 CH-Bern – Bierhübeli25.04.08 Roth - Kulturfabrik

27.04.08 Illingen – Illipse

29.04.08 Mosbach – Alte Mälzerei

03.05.08 Wuppertal – Rex Theater (tbc)02.05.08 Ochtendung - Kulturhalle

04.05.08 Unna – Theater

08.05.08 Peine – Kulturforum09.05.08 Wernigerode – Kongreßzentrum

10.05.08 Siegen – PUR Festival (tbc)

Weitere Termine in Vorbereitung

Vancouver Children’s Festival

web:

date: 18 May 2008

time: 12 noon

venue: Vanier Park Vancouver, British Columbia

details:

Yoshida Brothers (w/Dharmakasa)
date: May 23, 2008- 8 PM
venue: Victoria, BC
Alix Goolden Performance Hall
907 Pandora Ave.
Tel. 250-386-5311

Tickets Sold at:
McPherson Box Office , Tel. 250-386-6121

Yoshida Brothers (w/Dharmakasa)
date: May 24, 2008- 8 PM
venue: Vancouver, BC
Vancouver Playhouse
Corner of Hamilton St. & Dunsmuir St.
Tel. 604-665-3050

Tickets Sold at:
Ticketmaster Vancouver , Tel. 604-280-4444

details:

Cross-cultural pioneers and young Tsugaru-shamisen virtuosos Ryoichiro and Kenichi Yoshida-The Yoshida Brothers - have re-interpreted a traditional music style for the new generation. Superstars in their native Japan, the brothers are masters of the traditional Japanese Tsugaru-shamisen, an ancient three-stringed banjo/lute-like instrument that is plucked with a triangular pick resulting in a percussive twang. Their energetic and muscular interpretation of the shamisen has revealed the wide expressive potential of the instrument and attracted an international audience.

Playing since the age of five in their Northern Hokkaido home, the brothers went on to win many prestigious Tsugaru-shamisen competitions, then releasing subsequent recordings. Donning traditional Japanese dress-kimonos and hakama pants-but sporting the dyed hair that is trendy among Japanese youth, they infuse modernity into their music with Western musical influences such as pop, jazz, blues, Latin and more. The Yoshida Brothers performances are known for their fast and percussive shamisen style, trading riffs at lightning speed, and as World Music Central writes, “the Brothers play the age-old Tsugaru-shamisen with the fervor of Jimi Hendrix.” Their unique fusion of traditional Japanese music and modern Western influences have already earned them worldwide attention-their music is the theme of the Nintendo Wii commercials- and continues to thrill audiences everywhere.

For more info on Yoshida Brothers visit http://www.myspace.com/yoshidabrothers1.

Dharmakasa CD Release Celebration

web:

date: 31 May 2008

time: 7:30 PM

venue: TBA

details: Dharmakasa celebrating the release of their latest CD, "Between Worlds" with a live show!

International Dragon Boat Festival

date: 22 Jun 2008

time: 12:30 PM

venue: Concord Pacific Place, Creekside Park Vancouver

details:

Enchanted Evenings

date: 29 Aug 2008

time: 20:00

venue: Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Gardens Vancouver, British Columbia

details: Dharmakasa live again at the Gardens! Don't miss it!

World Shakuhachi Festival 2008, Syndey, Australia

web: http://www.worldshakuhachifestival08.com/festivalhistory.html

date: July 4-8 , 2008

time: All day/night

venue: Sydney Opera House

Tomoko Yamaguchi koto and shamisen performance; feat. Alcvin Takegawa Ramos on shakuhachi

web:

date: September 5, 2008

time: 8 PM

venue: Seaside Centre, Sechelt, BC, Canada

details:

This year reknowned master shakuahchi maker, Yamaguchi Shugetsu will be coming to lead a workshop on shakuhachi making at Bamboo-In. He will be accompanied by his wife, koto and shamisen master, Tomoko Yamaguchi. It is their 25th anniversary of being married so Tomoko will offer a concert at the Seaside Center in Sechelt on September 5. She will be accompanied on shakuhachi by Alcvin Takegawa Ramos. Don't miss this rare opportunity to hear this great performer from Japan!

4th Annual Hocchiku Making Workshop @ Bamboo-In

web: lhttp://www.bambooin.com/aboutus/SummerHocchikuMakingWorkshop.html

date: September 6-7, 2008

time: All day

venue: Bamboo-In, Madeira Park, BC, Canada

details:
Come join us and experience the great joy of creating your own hocchiku with your own hands, putting you directly in the creation process of your personal, shakuhachi meditation instrument. You will understand and know on a deeper level how perfect and beautiful madake bamboo is for making a flute and be inspired to deepen your releationship with the shakuhachi and its playing like you've never experienced before. You will leave with a great feeling of satisfaction and pleasure from making your own hocchiku, as well as a full belly from all the great food!

This year reknowned master shakuahchi maker, Yamaguchi Shugetsu will be coming to lead the workshop. He will be accompanied by his wife, koto and shamisen master, Tomoko Yamaguchi. It is their 25th anniversary of being married so Tomoko will offer a concert at the Seaside Center in Sechelt on September 5. She will be accompanied on shakuhachi by Alcvin Takegawa Ramos.

Roots Pilgrimage 5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

web: http://www.bamboo-in.com/about-us/rootstrip.htm

date: November, 2008

time: All day/night