Shakuhachi 1979

Ensemble of five shakuhachi performers. In 1979, five students of the shakuhachi master Hozan Yamamoto got together and created a performance group. All had extensive training in the classics, but, as students of one of the most innovative shakuhachi players of the 20th century, all wanted to expand the shakuhachi repertoire and create new music. The result, a shakuhachi quintet, was named, appropriately, Shakuhachi 1979. The members include Taizan Kawamura, Seizan Ishigaki, Suizan Sakai, Hozan Nomura and Chikuzan Nanba. Beginning with youthful energy, they originally performed several concerts each year, both in and outside of Tokyo. After going through the existing repertoire of contemporary music for multiple shakuhachi, they began commissioning pieces and composing their own original pieces. Years have passed since these five men formed their group, and since then countless numbers of other young shakuhachi players have come and gone. Some formed groups, had their day in the sun, then disbanded. Shakuhachi 1979 is still around (although there was a recent five-year hiatus when they stopped performing), and no other group has been quite as successful or lasted as long. The members are now respected (and busy) mid-career shakuhachi players, each with an impressive career and numerous students. Yet they still find time to present a group concert once a year.