The First Vancouver Shakuhachi Festival 2003
Greetings from British Columbia, Canada! I hope everyone is well in the
winter season. I apologize for this rather late update of the First
Vancouver Shakuhachi Festival 2003. In short, it was a GREAT success! I
will give you a perspective of some of the highlights of the experience
as the organizer of the event. (If you'd like to see some images from
the VSf please go to: http://www.Bamboo-In.com/15.html)
Before I begin, I'd like to give a warm thanks to The Japan Foundation,
University of British Columbia, The Consul General of Japan, University
of British Columbia and UBC Asian Centre, The 75th Anniversary of
Japan/Canada Relations Society, International Shakuhachi Research Centre
(Kokusai Shakuhachi Kenshukan), International Resource Fund, Tai Hei
Shakuhachi, and everyone who participated and helped make this Festival
a wonderful event.
Roots of the VSF
In the summer of 1994 I attended the First International Shakuhachi
Festival in Bisei, Okayama-ken, Japan, hometown of Katsuya Yokoyama. At
the time I was only a fledgling three year old shakuhachi player
studying in the countryside of Yamaguchi Prefecture. A year earlier I
had met and befriended Christopher Yohmei Blasdel in Kyoto, who played a
mesmerizing concert on the misty grounds of a beautiful old Buddhist
temple. It was he who informed me about the upcoming International
Shakuahchi Festival and about Katsuya Yokoyama. There was no way I was
going to miss this incredible event.
At the Bisei Festival, my life changed forever. I heard Yokoyama Sensei
and his students play honkyoku for the first time. And even more than
that, I was moved that Yokoyama Sensei could bring so many styles
together in such a harmonious way to give workshops, lectures, and
concerts. It was wonderful. I met and heard many great shakuhachi
spirits as well...Katsuya Yokoyama, Yamaguchi Goro, Aoki Reibo,
Christopher Yohmei Blasdel, Ronnie Seldin, Ray Brooks, Tom Deaver, John
Kaizan Neptune, Lawrence Huff, Anne Norman, Toshimitsu Ishikawa,Taro
Miura, Michael Gould, Marco Lienhard, Riley Lee, Kaoru Kakizakai,
Kazushi Matama, Teruo Furuya, Akikazu Nakamura, Dan Ribble, David
Wheeler, Yoshikazu Iwamoto, Masaru Kuroda....That's also where I first
met Cory Sperry for the first time as well, while he was trying out
Yamaguchi Shugetsu's 3.0s on the lawn in front of the main outdoor
stage. Later, Cory was to organize the great World Shakuhachi Festival
in Boulder, Colorado in 1998.
In 1996 I moved to Vancouver Canada with my then fiancee (and now wife)
Sandra Chung and began teaching and playing shakuhachi in this beautiful
city. I met local shakuhachi people, Elliot Weisgarber, Norman
Stanfield, Takeo Yamashiro, and Ray Brooks, pioneers in shakuhachi
propagation in Canada and North America. It was here that I had the
dream of doing a shakuhachi festival in Vancouver. I must make a special
mention about Takeo Yamashiro and Ray Brooks. Takeo Yamashiro has been
playing shakuhachi in Canada for the last 30 years and has done a great
deal in introducing the instrument to many people through the years.
When we met, our friendship was immediate and throughout my time in
Vancouver he has been so supportive of all my efforts at living a
shakuhachi life. Without him, the VSF couldn't have taken place. Ray
Brooks was also one of the first people I met when I moved to Vancouver
and he has been so inspiring with his boundless enthusiasm for
shakuhachi and honkyoku which have inspired me tremendously as well. His
support and well-wishes through the years have meant a great deal to me.
In 1998 I attended the WSF in Boulder Colorado. At the time, my health
had hit a major low, but this event was so important that I drug my
deteriorating body to the event and tried to summon as much energy as I
could to enjoy it. Despite all the pain and suffering, I attended as
many workshops and concerts as I could, and met many friends from Japan
as well made many new ones from other parts of the world. I was totally
moved and inspired to forge on in doing a shakuhachi festival in
Vancouver. The organizers of the WSF did an incredible job!
In 1999 I returned to Japan for an intensive study of shakuhachi and
returned to Vancouver in 2001 to start my work again growing shakuhachi
in Vancouver.
VSF 2003
The idea of doing a Vancouver Shakuhachi Festival has been a dream of
mine for a long time, but it didn't really seem feasible till this year
(2003). I found out that Bertil Petersson, a long time student of
Katsuya Yokoyama was also living in Vancouver so I contacted him and we
became fast friends and we decided to team up to accomplish the VSF.
Earlier we wondered what time of the year we should hold it and maybe
postponing it till 2005. But in May Kakizakai sensei encouraged us to
have it in November. So we had only five months to organize it all.
My first worry was where to hold the festival. We tossed around several
ideas and called several places weighing the cost of each place. But
they all seemed way too expensive for our non-exixtent budget. I got
together with all the other shakuhachi people in Vancouver to form a
team to make the VSF happen. They were Norman Stanfield, Takeo
Yamashiro, Bertil Petersson, and myself. Norman was a blessing for this
event as he is a professor of ethnomusicology at the University of
British Columbia with a love for shakuhachi and Japanese Music, and it
was he that secured us the use of the beautiful UBC Asian Centre for a
very reasonable price.
Now that we had a place to hold it, all that was left now were the
details of making a website, advertising, and extra funding and
sponsorship. Again luck was on our side as we got support from the Japan
Foundation as well as Japanese Consulate and a few other private
organizations. My biggest worry at that time was that I had to go to
Europe for the whole month of October so I would be away from organzing
the Festival a month before the date. Thankfully my wonderful wife,
Sandra, is an expert organizer and bookkeeper as well as graphic
designer, so she took care of all the details and advertising while I
was gone.
When I got back from Europe, we (the VSF staff) made the schedule for
the festival and did some last minute advertising through newspaper,
magazines, radio, and TV. An auspicious sign was that a week before the
Festival I hosted the Harmonic Concordance Ceremony in Vancouver and
played at the Vancouver Sacred Music festival which also attracted more
people to come to the VSF.
I was nervous since I wanted everyone to enjoy the event and not be
disappointed. My desire was for everyone to have a great time; both
instructors as well as students from abroad and in Canada. As the time
drew closer to the start, I was pleased at the turnout of the Festival.
More than I had anticipated.
The day before the start of the VSF the instructors from Japan, Kaoru
Kakizakai and Kazushi Matama along with two koto players, Megu Kakizakai
and Tomoko Kimura, and 6 other shakuhachi players arrived at Vancouver
International Airport where we picked them up to take them to the
residence hall on the UBC campus.
Day 1
The next day it all started at 4 PM. It was all kind of dream-like as we
saw all the participants arrive; connecting all the names with the
faces. At 5 PM we all gathered into the main auditorium where I
introduced everyone involved with the VSF. Then I gave the space over to
Kakizakai Sensei to use for a mass group lesson. He led the class
elegantly and in English as well! Starting with RO buki he went into a
lecture on basic blowing technique to create the best sound. After one
hour we took a break then we divided the class in two. Matama sensei and
Bertil took the most basic students into another room to give more
specific teaching. Kakizakai stayed in the main hall to go on further
with the advance students.
After class, we had a welcome dinner at One More Sushi restaurant near
campus. Most everyone came and we got a chance to get acquainted with
other paricipants.
Day 2
The next morning at 8:30 AM we all gathered in the basement music room
of the Asian Centre where we started the day with 15 minutes of RO buki.
After announcements, classes started.
Classes went well. Bertil, Matama, and I taught basic classes while
Kakizakai taught an advanced class. In the afternoon, we had a
round-table discussion about "the appeal of honkyoku" in which Norman
chaired; the panel consisting of Kakizakai, Matama, Bertil, and me.
Larry Tyrell, who traveled all the way from Oregon to partake in the VSF
helped with the translating between Japanese and English.
The highlight of the Saturday was the student recital in the evening.
Three Komuso-dressed shakuhachi players played long tones as the
invocation of the evening then we all enjoyed a night of beautiful
music. All level of shakuhachi players played and it was wonderful!
I must make a special appreciative gesture to the two koto playing women
from Japan, Megumi Kakizakai and Tomoko Kimura who added another
beautiful layer to the VSF experience. They were so helpful and
enthusiastic and played magnificently. And Tomoko actually partook in
the workshops and student recital as a shakuhachi player! She said that
playing shakuhachi has helped her understand ensemble music on a deeper
level.
The set list was:
1. Paramita by Ryohei Hirose played by Robert Bick (Al Ramos on drone
accompaniment)
2. A folk piece by Miyuki Tanemura
3. Yamabiko--Ronan Nanning (acc. by Al Ramos)
4. Chidori no Hama--Barbara McConneville and Marg Sutton
5. Kumoi Jishi--Kurita, Matsumoto, and Kuroda and Kimura on koto
6. Daha--James Jennings
7. Embers, Cause of My Sorrow, Chimerical--original pieces by Larry
Tyrell
8. Improvisation--Patrick Desjardins
9. Native American Flute presentation by Jacob Trezvant
10. Tsukikusa no Yume--Ronan Nanning, Shirley Embra, Larry Tyrell,
Miyuki Tanemura, and Tomoko Kimura with Megu Kakizakai on koto.
11. Esashi Oiwake by Masami Kurita
Day 3
The final day started much like yesterday with RO buki at 8:30 AM then
announcements. This morning was devoted to private lessons from all the
teachers. In the afternoon there was a workshop on shakuhachi making
given by Masami Kurita with translation from Takeo Yamashiro. Norman
gave a lecture on Komuso garb as well as led an actual zazen session.
It all culminated in the final concert at 7 PM given by the teachers in
the Asian Centre main auditorium. The auditorium was filled nearly to
capacity from folks from all over BC area. It was really great to see so
many people present for this special offering of shakuhachi music. As
they did yesterday at the student recital, the three Komuso invoked the
evening with long tones as they walked from the entrance to the front of
stage area. But this time they were followed by all the shakuhachi
students who surrounded the periphery of the auditorium. After the long
tones, we all played the piece Tamuke in mass which was a truly moving
experience.
The set list was as follows:
1. Tamuke (everyone)
2. Haru no Umi (Kaoru and Megu Kakizakai)
3. Kumoi Jishi (Kazushi Matama, Bertil Petersson, Al Ramos)
4. Syrinx (Norman Stanfield)
5. Betusden Tsuru no Sugomori (Kazushi Matama)
6. Kokuu (Kaoru Kakizakai)
7. Mu Ju Shin Kyoku (Takeo Yamashiro was scheduled to play this piece
but couldn't make it due to health problems.)
8. Shun Sui (Kakizakai, Al)
9. Seki Shun (Matama and Tomoko Kimura)
10. Shika no Tone (Kakizakai and Matama)
After the concert we had a final farewell dinner at One More Sushi
restaurant again where we had a raffle of shakuhachi items. Thanks again
to Monty Levenson of Tai Hei Shakuhachi for generously donating many
nice shakuhachi items for the raffle.
I'd like to make a special thanks to the following people who gave their
energy selflessly to help make the VSF an enjoyable experience for
everyone: Bill Buitendyk, Rich Powers, Milan Gelon, Hilda Nanning, Akiko
Baba, Wakako Iga, Sandra Ramos... and of course Kaoru Kakizakai, Kazushi
Matama, Bertil Petersson, Takeo Yamashiro, Norman Stanfield, Megu
Kakizakai, Tomoko Kimura, Masami Kurita, Masaru Kuroda, Atsunori
Matsumoto, and Shoichi Kato.
Thus ended the First Vancouver Shakuhachi Festival. We are now planning
the next one in 2005. Hope to see you there!
Have a wonderful X-mas and beautiful New Year!
--Alcvin Ramos
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