Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Dear Shaku-ists,
    (*Sankyoku: Japanese classical music ensembles using strings, voice and shakuhachi)

The "Third Sankyoku* Intensive for Shakuhachists" is scheduled for 9:00 AM, Friday, Nov. 10, to 12 noon, Sunday, Nov. 12, 2006, at the Studio of master of shamisen, koto and voice, Yoko Hiraoka, in Louisville Colorado. Yoko and I hope you will be able to join us, and offer the following informational blurb as encouragement.

I started playing shakuhachi in the fall of 1977, joining a student shakuhachi club in Tokyo, whose instructor was Kawase Junsuke III, my teacher from that time to the present. I have been phenomenally lucky to be able to study with most of the great classical shakuhachi masters of the 20th century, as well as with many of the great masters of  koto, shamisen and voice, the true bearers of the torch of these traditions. I got hooked on Sankyoku early, and the pleasure is still there, and grows every time I play. Hoping to spread the joy of this love, Yoko and I started doing Sankyoku Intensives last fall. The curriculum of these two-and-a-half-day workshops addresses many aspects of Sankyoku, from the specific to the universal. Along with the musical issues of pitch, rhythm, sound production and scales, historical context and literary background are also covered, as well as the relationship of all of these to producing and enjoying amazing music. Classwork will include group lessons in ensemble with Yoko's voice, koto and shamisen, as well as only shakuhachi, some lecture and demonstration on theory, literature and history, and a tea ceremony. In the interest of providing an intense intensive, registration is limited to six participants.

Our simple goal is to provide you with as deep and enjoyable an experience as possible in the world of Sankyoku ensemble. To that end, we want to encourage your preparation in advance of arrival at camp. Upon registration, participants will be sent a packet including the sheet music and other printed materials related to camp, as well as a recording of the pieces that will be taught.

The curriculum for this intensive will, as per tradition, feature two masterpieces of the Sankyoku* repertoire, one Sôkyoku (koto piece) and one Jiuta (shamisen-based piece), featuring composers, Yatsuhashi Kengyô and Kikuoka Kengyô, with major collaborative contribution from Yaezaki Kengyô.
The Sôkyoku piece is Yatsuhashi's Midare Rinzetsu ("Rinzetsu Variations"), for which Yoko will play an alternative koto part written by Yaezaki. The Jiuta piece will be Kikuoka's musical celebration of love and the Way of Tea, Chaondo ("Tea Ceremony Song").  We are especially lucky this time that Yoko is also a practitioner and instructor of the Tea Ceremony. Participation in a formal Tea Ceremony is part of the Intensive, and certainly germane to this program in particular.

We do hope you will join us, but space is limited, so if you are interested, please visit the following website for further details and registration information:
http://www.duosokyo.com/sankyokuworkshop.html

Cheers,
David and Yoko


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David Wheeler
Musician (Shakuhachi)/Musicologist
3660 Buckeye Ct., Boulder, CO, USA 80304
Tel./Fax 303-449-2935
shakudavid@gmail.com