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At the Shakuhachi Festival in New York in 2004, a panel discussion limited to women shakuhachi players was organised, which was then followed by a concert by panel members. It was a very special experience to meet all these wonderful women, who, like myself, have dedicated themselves to the shakuhachi. Inspired by this meeting, I have decided to make available a list of women shakuhachi players on my site, so that we might know where our sisters are located and can perhaps take contact with them when travelling. If readers know of more female shakuhachi players who would not mind being listed here, please let me know! The names below are ordered alphabetically by family name (which comes first in Japanese); addresses and other information are in accordance with the latest information known to me. Corrections of any errors are earnestly solicited! |
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| Nancy Beckman | |||
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Sebastopol, California [San Francisco Bay Area], USA Nancy is a myoan-ryu shakuhachi player, who has been playing since 1972. She has studied with Fukumoto Kyoan and Yoshimura Fuan of Meian-ji Temple in Kyoto and has a performer's name, Fukushin, and a licence (menkyokaiden) to teach Meian-ji style shakuhachi. Today Nancy teaches honkyoku, plays experimental music and improvises. www: metatronpress.com/artists/nbeckman |
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| Kirsty Beilharz | |||
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A violin player and professional composer, Kirsty Beilharz discovered shakuhachi through Zen and composition. Her teachers in Sydney are Riley Lee and Bronwyn Kirkpatrick. This year she visited Kakizakai Kaoru Sensei in Chichibu, with whom she hopes to pursue further study in Japan. Her Web site: wwwpeople.arch.usyd.edu.au/~kirsty |
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| Elizabeth Reian Bennett | |||
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Elizabeth received a B.A. in East Asian Studies
from Princeton in 1975 and a Ph.D. in Chinese Arts History from
Yale in 1984. Japanese music became a major interest while she pursued
her academic studies, and in 1982, two years before receiving her
Ph.D., she became a shakuhachi Shihan and received her performing
name, Reian. email: elizabethreian@hotmail.com |
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| Elizabeth Brown | |||
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After receiving a Masters degree in flute performance from The Julliard School, Elizabeth began composing and studying shakuhachi with Ralph Samuelson. Some of Elizabeth's music combines Japanese and Western instruments. Her music has been heard in Japan, the Soviet Union, Colombia, Australia and Vietnam as well as across the US and Europe. Elizabeth performs and records extensively. A solo CD, Blue Minor: Chamber Music by Elizabeth Brown was recently released by Albany Records. www: elizabethbrowncomposer.com |
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| Cynthia Nyoen Chaffee | |||
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Huntington, New York [Connetticut], USA Cynthia earned a Masters Degree in ethnomusicology and composition from Aaron Coplan School of Music, Queens College, City University of New York, where she began studying shakuhachi in 1983. She received her shihan from Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin. Cynthia is active both as a performer in various groups such as Nihon no Shirabe and the Long Island Taiko Group Rhu Shu Taiko and the organisation of the Haru Matsuri (spring festival) in her hometown, Huntington, where she teaches piano and shakuhachi. Her recordings are: A Woman Sounds Ancient Wisdom (shakuhachi) and Chopin Sampler (piano) www: emptybell.org/teachers.html |
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| Kiku Day | |||
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 Photo: Molly Thompson |
London, U.K. I thought I'd better put myself in here, so as not to be entirely forgotten. But as there is sufficient information about me on this website, I omit it here. |
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| Martha Fabrique | |||
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Dr. Fabrique currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music at Our Lady of the Lake University and holds a DMA from University of Colorado-Boulder. She is a professional flutist who frequently joins the San Antonio Symphony flute section and freelances in other orchestras and ensembles. Moreover, she is an accomplished shakuhachi player as well, having studied for Kurahashi Yoshio and Stan Richardson. Her doctoral thesis is entitled 'Crosswinds: Interpreting Flute Literature Influenced by the Japanese Shakuhachi', www: ollusa.edu/academic/cas/Music/fabrique.html email: fabrm@lake.ollusa.edu |
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| Geleni Fontaine | |||
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| photo coming | I
am a student of James Nyoraku Schleffer in Brooklyn, New York. I've
studied shakuhachi since August 2001. When I fist heard shakuhachi
I was struck by the blend of quiet and oldness in the sound, and the
depth of emotion in the music was something that startled me and drew me in. It's now a very significant part of my life, and always will be. I have worked for many years with social justice groups and doing mind/body/spirit work with youth and adults. In the next year I hope to begin studying to be an acupuncturist. For me there is a profound connection between shakuhachi, healing, and the creation of a more peaceful world. |
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| Tomie Hahn | |||
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Troy, New York, USA Tomie is a performer and ethnologist whose creativities span a wide range of topics including: Japanese traditional performing arts, Monster Truck rallies, issues of identity and creative expression of multiracial culture, interactive dance/movement performance, and gestural control and extended human/computer interface in performing arts. She holds a degree in Art History, Music Performance and Ethnomusicology and teaches/performs shakuhachi and nihon buyo (Japanese traditional dance). Tomie has studied shakuhachi with Ralph Samuelson and Yamaguchi Goro. Hahn is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of the Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. www: arts.rpi.edu/tomie |
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| Stephanie Hiller Somerset, UK |
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Stephanie started learning shakuhachi with Yoshikazu Iwamoto in 1985, whilst studying music at Dartington College of Arts, Devon, UK. She now studies Kinko repertoire with Michael Coxall and Zensabo repertoire with Kiku Day in London. Stephanie works as a Holistic Therapist and is especially interested in the use of shakuhachi in sound healing. To this end, she is currently studying on a 2 year sound healing course in London. www.stephaniehiller.co.uk |
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| Kaneko Tomoe | |||
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(Tokyo, Japan) Tomoe is one of the leading female shakuhachi players in Japan, drawing keen attention from the media. After receiving a Masters Degree at Tokyo Geijitsu Daigaku (Tokyo University of Fine Arts), she auditioned for the Japanese state broadcasting company, NHK, and has performed in FM radio programs. Since then, she has performed in Sweden, Poland, Turkey, China, Ireland, Australia, and Finland and been presented on various television programmes and in magazines. Website: sakura-yokohama.com/html/events0607.html |
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| Bronwyn Kirkpatrick | |||
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(Sydney, Australia) Bronwyn is a student of Grand Master www: users.bigpond.com/bronwyn.kirkpatrick/ |
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| Matsushita Shunzan | |||
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(Tokyo, Japan) Shunzan began studying shakuhachi at age 12 with her father and later became the first female shakuhachi player to graduate from Tokyo Geijitsu Daigaku (Tokyo University of Fine Arts). She has studied with Yamamoto Hôzan and Satô Chikai and is a dai-shihan (Grand Master) of Tozan-ryû. Shunzan is a licensed music instructor of adult education and teaches in many schools throughout Japan. She has performed at the Imperial Palace, annually on NHK FM Radio since 1990, and in Italy, Holland, and the United States. In 1994 she formed her group Hushu. |
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| Anne Norman | |||
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(Melbourne, Australia) Anne composes for and performs on the shakuhachi. Originally trained on the flute, she took up the shakuhachi under Nakamura Shindo and later studied under Tajima Tadashi in Osaka. In 1990 she received a two year grant from the Japanese Government to study shakuhachi with Yamaguchi Goro at Tokyo University of the Arts. Anne works as a freelance musician in collaborative improvisation and contemporary Australian music for the shakuhachi, together with a variety of other artists. She is a member of jouissance which places 6th to 13thC Latin and Byzantine chants in a contemporary framework and plays in the duo Questing Spirit which combines the shakuhachi with the harpsichord. Anne teaches, performs, and directs music for the theatre and the dance and is regularly engaged as a recording artist for CDs and film. www: http://annenorman.com |
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| Véronique Piron | |||
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France Veronique PIRON, born in 1961, is a professional French flutist,
and a Shakuhachi player since 1992. Webside will come soon email: vpironet@yahoo.fr |
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| Lauren Ruben MA MSMT | |||
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Lauren Rubin has a Bachelors degree in Voice, and a Masters of Science in Music Technology from the University of Indiana. Lauren studies, performs and teaches the Aboriginal didgeridoo and North Indian tabla. She studies shakuhachi with Todd Barton, and her interest lies in honkyoku. She teaches percussion and music technology in the Artists in the Schools program, and plans to begin a PhD at Melbourne's Monash University in Ethnomusicology in the fall of 2006. | ||
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| Annelies Nederbragt, The Hague, The Netherlands | |||
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| Photo coming soon | Born in 1947 and a retired occupational therapist, Annelies played recorder, classical guitar and Scottish bagpipe during her youth. When she began playing recorder again in 1998 she encountered the Japanese shakuahchi piece written for recorder. Due to her interest in meditation, she visited the Buddha Hall in the Museum of Agriculture in Leiden where she met Kees Kort and has since only played the shakuhachi. Now a passionate shakuhachi player, she has played kyotaku in the style of Nishimura Koku since 2009, participated in the ESS Summer Schools since 2007, all Prague Shakuhachi Festicals, and workshops with Seki Ichiro, Ray Jin and Kurahashi Yodo. Since 2008 Annelies continues to perform twice a month in the Buddha Hall in Leiden. | ||
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