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The 22^nd Chikumeisha France Shakuhachi Workshop

October 27, 28, and 29, 2023

Shinan: Gunnar Jinmei Linder

with Christophe Kazan Gaston (shakuhachi)
Akari Sagara (koto, vocals) and Guillaume Fiat (shamisen, vocals)

Organized by Chikumeisha France Lesson Center        フランス竹盟社教場

Important Registration and payment mandatory by September 15 (see below)

Venue

https://www.pavillon-chesnaieduroy.com/fr
Pavillon Chesnaie du Roy
102 route de la Pyramide 75012 Paris

Concerts

Friday 27: Main concert at the venue

Saturday 28: Workshop concert at the venue

Price and registration

Important: due to security reasons (the workshop is organized in cooperation with a bonsai expo), we are limited to twelve participants whose names must be given in advance to the organizers. Therefore, you should register by email at registration@chikumeisha.net and then pay 150 € no later than September 15. We will process the registration requests first come first served.

Context

The workshop is organized in coordination with a bonsai expo that will attract some 3 to 4 thousands people on Saturday and Sunday. There will be intermezzos during the event, giving you some performance opportunities.

We need to know if you want to perform during one of the intermezzos. Please send you intention of performing at the time of registration, as well what piece you want to play. We will not have many opportunities to rehearse at the venue, so we offer an opportunity to go through the piece of your choice online before the event. Please indicate if you want to use this option at the time of registration. Date and time will be decided later. Everyone who wants will be given an opportunity to perform at least once, but depending on the number of participants performing, it may be possible to arrange for more than one intermezzo per person. The intermezzos can be solo or duo/trio performances of any kind on the shakuhachi. Due to logistics, we think it will be difficult to include koto and shamisen in these intermezzos.

Pieces taught at the workshop Pieces taught

Gaikyoku (repertoire of sankyoku ensemble pieces, w. strings & vocals)

Kajimakura is an intermediate jiuta-sōkyoku piece, composed by Kikuoka Kengyō (1792–1847) and Yaezaki Kengyō (1776?–1848), with lyrics by Tachibana Chijitsuan (Kisan). The piece is a song of longing for true love in a world that never stands still. Technically there are some more demanding parts, but this piece does require a good understanding of the repertoire to play it well. This piece will be taugt in workshop format.

Rokudan no Shirabe is a well-known piece by Yatsuhashia Kengyō (1614–1685), most likely composed in the first half of the 17th century. This piece is one of the most known pieces in the repertoire, a piece that you study quite early on, but a piece that you will often return to. It is fairly short and one of the very few purely instrumental pieces in the repertoire. This time, we will adapt to the level of the participants and offer both workshop and master class options.

Honkyoku (kinko-ryū fundamental pieces)

Kinsan Kyorei is quite an interesting honkyoku as its name denotes the koto (kin) and the shamisen (san). The piece was of course made into a solo shakuhachi piece, and it is definitely not easy to pin down the details of how these two string instruments may have influenced the piece.

Sakae-jishi (renkan) is an approximately 10-minute honkyoku duet. We go through special features, and finally play the whole piece together. The solo version of this piece is more than 60 minutes long so it is really a “digest version” of the original.

Hifumi no Shirabe an important honkyoku at the beginning of the repertoire. It contains some very basic patterns used in honkyoku. This workshop also includes the technically more demanding addition to this piece by Araki Kodō II (1823–1908), and if time allows, the “Hachi-gaeshi” section may also be taught. We welcome participants at all levels. This time, we will adapt to the level of the participants and offer both workshop and master class options.

Program of the workshop

Please note that we need to be very prudent with time for this workshop, including lunch breaks.

You will have to be on time outside the venue at 9:45 on Friday, and at 9:15 on Saturday and Sunday to enter the venue.

If you arrive later you will have to line up with ordinary visitors of the expo. That line may be very long, especially on Saturday and Sunday since a large crowd is expected for the bonsai expo.

Friday, October 27

In order to get in smoothly, we gather outside the venue by 9:45.

Saturday, October 28

In order to get in smoothly, we gather outside the venue by 9:15.

Sunday, October 29

Warning: you will have to advance your watch by 1h because daylight saving time stops (at 3 a.m., it will be 2 a.m.).

In order to get in smoothly, we gather outside the venue by 9:15.

Please note that there is only one hour for lunch on Sunday.