{"id":24574,"date":"2025-03-06T09:29:17","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T15:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/?p=24574"},"modified":"2025-03-06T11:47:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T17:47:46","slug":"college-of-performance-visualization-and-fine-arts-to-host-world-shakuhachi-festival-in-april","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/news\/2025\/03\/06\/college-of-performance-visualization-and-fine-arts-to-host-world-shakuhachi-festival-in-april\/","title":{"rendered":"College Of Performance, Visualization And Fine Arts To Host World Shakuhachi Festival In April"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The Texas A&M University College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts<\/a> will host the World Shakuhachi Festival<\/a> April 17-20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Martin Regan<\/a>, a professor in the Music Performance<\/a> program, organized the festival, which will be held in Texas for the first time. The quadrennial event debuted in Japan in 1994, and it was most recently held in London in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regan said he envisions shakuhachi professionals and aficionados from around the world gathering to celebrate the \u201ctranscendental instrument.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe 2025 World Shakuhachi Festival is an event that will leave a footprint in the cultural consciousness of Texas A&M, Bryan-College Station, Texas, and beyond for years to come,\u201d he said. \u201cTo grow awareness of this instrument, its repertoire and the power of cross-cultural collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The four-day festival centers around the shakuhachi \u2014 an end-blown bamboo flute \u2014 which was imported from China in the eighth century, Regan said, and remains an important part of Japanese culture and music today. It is utilized in jazz, contemporary, rock and pop music, along with video games, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than 210 visiting guest artists and participants from around the world \u2014\u00a0including\u00a0Japan, China, Taiwan, Finland, Australia and England \u2014 have registered for the event, which will feature 10 concerts, more than 75 workshops and classes, three open-mic sessions, two competitions and a research symposium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Visiting shakuhachi performers include Nomura H\u014dzan<\/a>, recognized as a \u201cliving embodiment of this tradition,\u201d Regan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n David Kansuke Wheeler<\/a> and Yoko Reikano Kimura<\/a> will perform works on April 17 at Rudder Theatre. Wheeler and Kimura have been performing regularly at Texas A&M for more than a decade, including a classical and contemporary Japanese music concert for the college<\/a> in September 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cornelius Boots<\/a> \u2014 who completed a Glasscock Center Short-Term Visiting Fellowship in October and performed a concert<\/a> with Regan in the Black Box Theater \u2014 will also perform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regan said he was grateful for the \u201conce-in-a-lifetime opportunity\u201d to coordinate this event. He said he is looking forward to bringing the community of global shakuhachi players to Aggieland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wish to show them authentic Texas southern hospitality,\u201d Regan said. \u201cThis is the first festival where everyone will be lodging in the same locations: The George and Cavalry Court. Both are four-star accommodations located in a lively commercial area where you can get chicken wings, French crepes and a pair of boots \u2014 which matters, because our guests can experience local culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Concerts will be held at Rudder Theatre and the Black Box Theater in the Liberal Arts and Arts and Humanities Building. Guests will also visit Round Top<\/a>, which is an hour from College Station and known for its concert hall, shops and antique fairs. Participants will explore Round Top\u2019s Historical District and will present a gala concert at Festival Hill<\/a>, Regan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRound Top is the Texas of your dreams,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a place to buy cheese and get your Texas bourbon, enjoy some good Mexican food, explore art galleries and even shop at a leather store \u2014 all in walking distance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regan attended the World Shakuhachi Festival in Sydney, Australia (2008), Kyoto, Japan (2012) and London (2018), and said he enjoyed the networking and discussions in the shakuhachi world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was so exciting to explore a new place and have a chance to rekindle the old friendships and make new ones,\u201d Regan said. \u201cAt the Sydney festival, I was so inspired that I wrote a concerto for the shakuhachi in one week. I called it \u2018Southern Winds,\u2019 and was inspired by the fact that it was composed in the Southern Hemisphere. These festivals often inspire me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This event offers artists the chance to network and establish collaborative partnerships, Regan said. Guests will also experience the \u201cglobal nature and transcendental quality and magic of this particular flute,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI hope people take away a renewed interest in Japanese culture, and in global cultures in general,\u201d Regan said. \u201cMusic has the power to bring people together in one community. I hope everyone finds even one workshop they can be inspired by and bring back the material to inform their practice for months or years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n To purchase tickets for concerts at Rudder Theatre or Festival Concert Hall in Round Top, visit the MSC Box Office website<\/a>. The concerts in the Black Box are free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n