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KAZUSHI MATAMA SHAKUHACHI
Matama is an invited performer and instructor at the 2008 World Shakuhachi Festival, Sydney, Australia. Born in Yokohama, Japan, Matama started playing Shakuhachi at the age 17. After graduating from Hosei University with a degree in History, he began studying shakuhachi seriously with Yokoyama Katsuya, over the last 30 years. In 1972-73, he successfully compelted the NHK audition and graduated from the NHK Special School of Traditional Japanese Music. Since then, Matama has participated in several international tours to Europe, South America, Asia, Australia, and the U.S. with Yokoyama and other top Japanese musical groups. He served as one of executive members of the ground-breaking "International Shakuhachi Music Festival in Bisei" in 1994 both as a planner, manager, and performer. In 1999 and 2000, he helped establish the "Australian Shakuhachi Music Festival" in Sydney and Brisbane. Matama is currently director of "Ramposha-Chikushin Kai" under the direction of Katsuya Yokoyam and active member of the Kokusai Yokoyama's Shakuhachi Kenshukan - the International Shakuhachi Research Centre and exectutive director of the Yokohama Chikushin Kai. Matama has performed and instructed at the Australian Shakuhachi Festivals, Hawaii Shakuhachi Festivals, and World Shakuhachi Festivals. |
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TERUO FURUYA SHAKUHACHI
Furuya is an invited performer and instructor at the 2008 World Shakuhachi Festival, Sydney, Australia. Born in Osaka, Teruo Furuya began studies of the shakuhachi under Katsuya Yokoyama at age 18. In 1971, he graduated from Tokyo Gakugei University and the NHK Traditional Music Conservatory. At that time, he also made his debut on NHK television. He regularly holds his own recitals and makes numerous guest appearances in various concerts. He has appeared in several of Yokoyama's recordings and has made his own set of shakuhachi practice videos and two CDs. He teaches at the NHK Culture Center and Gakugei University and is one of the main instructors of the Kokusai Yokoyama's Shakuhachi Kenshukan, the sponsors of the First International Shakuhachi festival. His students ahve included Robert Herr, Marco Lienhard, Alcvin Takegawa Ramos, and Peter Ross. He has recorded two CDs: Kangen Hissho - Shakuhachi and koto - Modern pieces; and Shakuhachi Suiso - Shakuhachi Honkyoku and modern pieces from the 1920s to the 1970s. Furuya has performed and instructed at the Australian Shakuhachi Festivals, Hawaii Shakuhachi Festivals, World Shakuhachi Festivals, and Summer Camps of the Rockies. |
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KAORU KAKIZAKAI SHAKUHACHI
Kakizakai is an invited performer and instructor at the 2008 World Shakuhachi Festival, Sydney, Australia. He has been an instructor and performer at the Shakuhachi Summer Camps of the Rockies, Colorado, USA, the Hawaiian Shakuhachi Festivals, the Australian Shakuhachi Festivals, at the 4th International Shakuhachi Festival, New York, the 1st Canadian Shakuhachi Festival, Vancouver (funded by The Japan Foundation), the 3rd International Shakuhachi Festival, Tokyo, the First International Shakuhachi Music Festival, Bisei, Okayama, and at the European Shakuhachi Summer school in France. In 2007, he performed “November Steps” with the Orchestra Nipponica Orchestra conducted by Tetsuji Honna in Hanoi Vietnam and in 2005 in Germany with the Erzgebirgsensembles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Noshi Takahashi. He has also performed in Portland, Seattle (funded by The Japan Foundation), and in Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, and Valladrid in Spain. In 2001, Kakizakai performed “Eclipse” at the Special Fifth Memorial Concert for Toru Takemitsu and he performed “November Steps” in Russia with the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Akira Naito. In 2000, he performed Takemitsu’s “November Steps” with the NHK Symphony Orchestra conducted by Charles Dutoit and Takemitsu’s “Eclipse” for Seiji Ozawa’s Birthday Charity Concert. In 1997, Kakizakai won the First Prize Shakuhachi Section and Overall Prize for Excellence in the 3rd Nagatani Kengyo Memorial National Japanese Music Competition. He has participated in the recording of CDs: “Fukuda Rando Collection”,“Chikuin - Katsuya Yokoyama: The World of Shakuhachi” and he appears in Katsuya Yokoyama’s video “Fukuda Rando Collection”. He undertook a Japanese Traditional Culture Exchange Society tour of Madagascar and Italy in 1989. He graduated from NHK Traditional Music Conservatory and Aoyama Gakuin University, Faculty of Engineering, Physics Department. Kakizakai studied shakuhachi with Katsuya Yokoyama after recommendation from first teacher, Seido Saito. |
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BRONYWYN KIRKPATRICK SHAKUHACHI
Bronwyn Kirkpatrick is an invited performer and instructor at the 2008 World Shakuhachi Festival, Sydney, Australia. Kirkpatrick is a shihan (master) of the shakuhachi who has been studying with shakuhachi grand-master Dr Riley Lee in Sydney, Australia since 1997. She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in clarinet performance, graduating with Distinction in 1994. Bronwyn has played the shakuhachi with the Bell Shakespeare Theatre Company, the Sydney Dance Company and TaikOz. In 2004, Bronwyn was invited to perform at shakuhachi festivals in New York and Japan and was awarded her jun-shihan (teacher) and shihan (master) shakuhachi licences from Dr Riley Lee. Bronwyn was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2004 and an Australia Council Skills and Arts Development grant in 2005, which enabled her to undertake further study of the shakuhachi in Japan with Kakizakai Kaoru, Furuya Teruo and Yokoyama Katsuya. Bronwyn performed at the first International Shakuhachi Festival of Hawaii in March 2005 and was a prize winner at the prestigious All-Japan National Music (Hogaku) Competition (for Traditional Japanese instruments), in May 2005. Bronwyn performs regularly with members of the Sawai International Koto School, directed by Satsuki Odamura. Her music comes from the heart and speaks to the heart.
www.users.bigpond.com/bronwyn.kirkpatrick/ |
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SATSUKI ODAMURA KOTO
Satsuki Odamura is an invited performer at the 2008 World Shakuhachi Festival, Sydney, Australia. Satsuki Odamura is a master of the koto. She is the representative of the Sawai International Koto School and has pioneered the introduction of teaching and performing on this ancient Japanese instrument to students, teachers and audiences since her arrival in Australia. Satsuki herself began learning the koto when she was ten. She joined the Sawai Koto School of Music in Tokyo when she was 18 and underwent the disciplines of being a live-in student with her teachers Tadao and Kazue Sawai. This has influenced her approach to performance and collaboration with the other artists. Satsuki gained her Shihan or master license in 1985. The license enables the holder to teach the koto in Japan and now teaches the koto at the Sawai International Koto School in Sydney and at Monash University in Melbourne. After gaining her professional license, in addition to her teaching, Satsuki became an active performer on the koto. She has given solo recitals, as a member of ensembles, accompanying players of other traditional instruments such as the shakuhachi as well as western instruments such as the flute. Satsuki has performed with critical success in Japan, Europe, the USSR, the United States, South East Asia and of course Australia. Foremost among Satsuki's achievements is working with musicians from other genres and styles, such as jazz & world music. She believes that artists with no previous knowledge of the koto are able to create exciting new directions and dimensions for the instrument. |
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MIYAMA McQUEEN-TOKITA KOTO
Miyama McQueen-Tokita has studied koto since the age of seven with the Sawai International Koto School in Melbourne and in Osaka and Tokyo. She has been taught by Kazue Sawai and Satsuki Odamura. She has acquired both contemporary and classical repertoire for koto and voice, and also plays bass koto and shamisen. She is licensed to teach koto for the Sawai International Koto School at the Japanese Studies Centre at Monash University, and in East Malvern. In 2002, Miyama became the first person to do VCE Solo Music Performance with koto, and was selected to perform in Top Acts in the Victorian Arts Centre in June 2003. She is currently doing a Bachelor of Music/Arts at Monash University with koto as her chief practical study. In 2005 she completed a semester abroad in Lyon, France, and performed koto there for various audiences. http://kotosounds.com
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Katoomba is in the centre of the Blue Mountains, close to other attractions such as Echo Point, the Three Sisters, the Scenic Railway and bushwalking, sight-seeing opportunities.
