TEACHERS
EVENT #2 11/12 NOVEMBER 2023
BEGINNERS/ELEMENTARY
RILEY LEE
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.
DANIEL RYUDO
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.
ELIZABETH REIAN BENNETT
The first American woman to play professionally as a Grand Master, she studied with Living National Treasure Aoki Reibo, one of the foremost traditional shakuhachi artists in Japan, for 37 years.
Since her debut recital in 1984, she has performed frequently in Japan and worldwide. Notable venues include Tokyo National Theater and NHK (Japan National TV). She has been interviewed on radio by Faith Middleton of Fresh Air, Robert J. Lurstema of Morning Pro Musica and Richard Knisely of Classical Performances.
By the time she reached Tufts University in Boston, where she taught the shakuhachi for ten years, her repertory expanded to include contemporary works for the shakuhachi by local composers, with instruments such as piano, harp, guitar, voice and baroque flute. Some of the composers were David Loeb, Stefan hakenberg, Marty Regan, Hiroko Ito, Lei Liang, Takehiko Gokita, Jeremy Woodruff and John MacDonald.
Now located in Morocco, Elizabeth Reian has played for the local conservatories of Agdal and Sale, various schools and universities of Rabat and Kenitra, as well as the Japanese Embassy, the National Library Theater, and Ministry of Culture Theatre. She continues to travel to perform in Japan, the US and Mexico.
VÉRONIQUE PIRON
Véronique Piron, currently based in Brittany, France, is a shakuhachi performer and teacher in the style of Yokoyama Katsuya (KSK) and was awarded her shihan licence in 2002 whilst a recipient of a research grant. She is a founding member of the ESS, and has been a teacher and co-organiser of many ESS Summer Schools. She is the coordinator of a conservatoire, and as a licensed professor for traditional music, she is focused on introducing Japanese and world traditional music, as well as the shakuhachi at the Music Museum in Paris.
Moving between tradition and creation, she has worked with composers and musicians on intercultural projects which have enabled her to develop her own compositions in a new approach to the shakuhachi. She has collaborated intensively with pianist Lydia Domancich (CD Sillage), with Bartabas and the equestrian theater Zingaro (Paris), and with the Japanese actress, Asai Hiromi.
