[Shaku] Four Messages from Riley Lee - Msg #2

Sydney Australia
May 2006

Hello all.

I have several announcements to make. Announcement #2:

The Australian Shakuhachi Society is pleased to announce the World
Shakuhachi Festival 2008 (WSF08, to be held in Sydney Australia.
Tentative dates are 3-9 July 2008; these dates are subject to change,
though unlikely to do so.

The WSF08 venue will be the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (SCM),
located near Sydney's Circular Quay, the Rocks, and the Sydney Opera
House. The facilities include five concert venues, all with superb
acoustics. The main hall, Verbrugghen Hall, is magnificent. We will
also have access to numerous classrooms, seminar rooms, rehearsal
rooms, etc.

SCM is ideal for our purposes. Almost all concert, workshop,
symposia, and lecture venues will be under one roof. Travel time
between some venues and events can be counted in seconds, so
participants will be able to attend more of the WSF08 events of their
choosing than would otherwise be the case.

To preview the venues, go to: http://www.music.usyd.edu.au/
talent_facilities/hire_venues.shtml

SCM is a short walk away from all sorts of accommodation, from the
most inexpensive backpackers and youth hostels to five star luxury.
It is also a few minutes away from the Sydney Opera House, where we
hope to have the main Festival Concert. This is contingent on
availability of the Concert Hall during WSF08; we'll be trying to
book this iconic venue as soon as possible.

Pleas note: for those of you who hope to perform during WSF08, please
be advised that performers will be chosen using the highest criteria
possible and may include some sort of blind audition. Having
performed at a previous international shakuhachi event does not in
any way guarantee a spot on the WSF08 programme.

My advice to anyone who dreams of playing at WSF08 is to start
practicing frequently, diligently and with proper guidance NOW. Even
those of you who are already teaching and performing regularly might
think seriously of improving your craft in every way possible.
Conversely, teaching and performing in public is in no way a
prerequisite to being chosen as a performer at WSF08.

There are many superb shakuhachi performers around these days,
especially in Japan. Consequently the organisers of WSF08 have the
luxury of setting the standards extremely high. At present, the only
people guaranteed an invitation to perform at WSF08 are the two
Japanese Living National Treasures and several of their contemporaries.

We will keep you updated on WSF08 as things develop. We should have a
website dedicated to WSF08 sometime this southern hemisphere winter
(it's autumn here now).

For the time being, please put the WSF08 dates on your calendar and
start saving now. See you in Sydney in 2008!

Best regards, Riley Lee

Dr Riley Lee
PO Box 939
Manly NSW 1655 Australia
0414 626 453
+61 2 9976 6904
www.rileylee.net

_____________________________________________

List un/subscription information is at:
 http://communication.ucsd.edu/shaku/listsub.html
Received on Mon May 1 09:38 PDT 2006