Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Contact Frank Minoru Phillips
Telephone 206 407-9047
Emai: frank@theatreoffjackson.org

For Immediate Release

BreathPlay Features Musicians from Tokyo and Seattle

Tokyo-based shakuhachi musician/writer Christopher Yohmei Blasdel and
Seattle-based composer/drummer Byron Au Yong perform BreathPlay at the
Chapel Performance Space on June 29th.

Direct from his Tokyo recital Shakuhachi exTemporal, which celebrated
35 years of studying shakuhachi in Japan, Christopher Yohmei Blasdel
performs with local musician Byron Au Yong. Together they explore
sounds from around the Pacific Rim using shakuhachi (Japanese
end-blown bamboo flute), Chinese percussion, piano, water, and voice
in the historic Good Shepherd Center Chapel built in 1906.

BreathPlay is an improvised music/sound art concert that travels
through intercultural, boundary-breaking, water-splashing terrain.

Au Yong and Blasdel met at the International House of Japan and have
worked on a number of projects since 1996. Their site-responsive
performance at the Tokyo Art Museum designed by Tadao Ando last
October was praised by audience members as "inventive and
stimulating."

BreathPlay marks the first time they have performed together in Seattle.

"I am excited to perform with Christopher," says Au Yong. "His
dedication to the shakuhachi and living in Asia has been a continual
source of inspiration. It is an honor to perform with such a spiritual
and knowledgeable musician."

BreathPlay happens at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good
Shepherd Center in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood at 8PM on
Friday, June 29, 2007. Tickets are $14-$18 and are available at
BrownPaperTickets.com or at the door.

BreathPlay
Byron Au Yong (Seattle) and Christopher Yohmei Blasdel (Tokyo)
perform improvised music/sound art using shakuhachi, Chinese
percussion, piano, water, and voice

Chapel Performance Space
Good Shepherd Center
4649 Sunnyside Ave N
Seattle WA 98103 USA

Friday, June 29, 2007, 8pm
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/16059

* * *

Byron Au Yong creates ceremonial musical events scored for Asian,
European and hand-made instruments. His work has been performed in
Canada, China, England, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and the United
States. Seattle projects include Piao Zhu: Flying Bamboo created for
the Seattle Asian Art Museum, Surrender: A T'ai Qi Cantata premiered
by The Esoterics, and YIJU: Songs of Dislocation presented at the Jack
Straw New Media Gallery. In addition, he was part of 4Culture's 2006
Site-Specific King County Performance Network. Following BreathPlay,
Au Yong travels to the UK to study with opera composer Sir Harrison
Birtwistle at Aldeburgh Music.

Christopher Yohmei Blasdel began shakuhachi and studies of Japanese
music in 1972 with National Treasure Goro Yamaguchi. In 1984, he
received the professional name "Yohmei" from Yamaguchi as well as a
graduate degree in ethnomusicology from Tokyo National University. A
permanent resident of Japan, Blasdel has performed, taught and
lectured throughout China, Thailand, Europe, North America, Mexico,
India, Malaysia and the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Author
of numerous books and articles, his Rennyo Award-winning book "A
Shakuhachi Odyssey," written in Japanese, is published by Kawade Shobo
Shinsha (English title: "The Single Tone--A Personal Journey into
Shakuhachi Music," Printed Matter Press, Tokyo).

More information about the musicians is available online at
hearbyron.com and yohmei.com. Information about the Chapel Performance
Space is available online at gschapel.blogspot.com or by calling 206
789-1939.

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