Teachers 1

Riley LEE has performed worldwide in such venues as the Sydney Opera House, Boston Symphony Hall, Espace Cardin (Paris), the Roundhouse Theatre (London), and smaller venues too numerous to count. 

He began playing the shakuhachi in Japan in 1971. He studied with Ichizan Hoshida II, Chikuho Sakai II and Katsuya Yokoyama, three the most respected teachers of the 20th century. In 1980, he became the first non-Japanese to attain dai shihan (Grand Master) ranking in shakuhachi.

Riley also became the first non-Japanese professional taiko player in the early 1970s, as a founding member of Sado no Kuni Ondekoza (now called Kodo). 

Riley started teaching breathing workshops in the late 1980s, and has since refined and expanded his repertoire of exercises, gleaned from a number of sources and from his long and focused relationship with shakuhachi.

Riley has released over 70 albums. His latest solo recording is Breath of the Earth, an acclaimed 3CD set of the music of Hildegard von Bingen. By the end of 2022, his music has enjoyed nearly 40 million streams on Spotify.

www.rileylee.net

Daniel ‘Ryudo’ Ribble began learning the shakuhachi in Kochi, Japan in 1987 with the Chikudosha branch of Kinko ryū, and he received a jun-shihan license from iemoto Fuji Jidou in 1994 following a sankyoku performance with kotoist Yagi Keiji at Yokohama’s Kanai Hall.

After further study of honkyoku and gaikyoku pieces, Daniel was given a shihan license in 2001. He has performed in ensemble pieces with the Kochi prefectural association of shakuhachi, shamisen, and koto players, and with Kinko ryu players at annual recitals and concerts for over 20 years, also traveling with Kinko players to perform at locations such as the National Theatre of Japan and the Shanghai Concert Hall.

He began study of Myoan shakuhachi in 2012 and attained the rank of master player in 2022. Daniel performed in honkyoku duets at World Shakuhachi Festivals in Kyoto in 2012 and in London 2018, the latter with his Myoan sensei Genshin Seian. He was a member of Windbeat, an ethno-pop band, and plays improvisationally with musicians in various genres in addition to performing traditional Japanese music.