Masayuki Koga
-Shakuhachi Instructor
JMI offers Shakuhachi instruction for both private and group.
Locations are in his Berkeley home and San Francisco for private instruction .
Group workshops at Eastbay Center for Performing Arts in Richmond, CA
Masayuki Koga Shakuhachi instructor
Please call or email for more details on class curriculum, pricing, or to make an appointment.
Email: mkoga@sbcglobal.net
Phone: (415) 621-2950
The shakuhachi is one of the most magical instruments. It is directly connected to the breath, man’s own connection to life. In turn, intimately connected to man’s spirit, emotion, and expressive nuance. It is, thus beautifully responsive to the artist and the artist’s spirit.
The core of music (or, even of life) is expansive freedom: the freedom to play music without any binding or restriction. In order to be free we need to open both our minds and our bodies. It is easy to talk about “opening the body” but it is hard to do. To open up the whole body requires steady and concrete progress to reach the goal, step by step. I put this information in my books from my 50 years of experience.
We start with basic breathing, simple posture and gradually we include each part of the body. Some parts are visible (we call them outer muscles), some are difficult to see or touch (inner muscles) including organs like the throat, inside mouth, diaphragm, and back-muscles.
There are several schools of shakuhachi in Japan. The two major schools are Kinko and Tozan. While Kinko is the oldest, Tozan has more elements incorporated from Western musical theory into its teaching because it was established in Meiji Period. Koga holds degrees from both schools. He has explored innovative ways to play the shakuhachi and has worked to bring the beauty of the shakuhachi to the Western world since he moved to the United States over 40 years ago. He has also collaborated on a CD project for Kitaro that was nominated for a Grammy award in 2007.
Masayuki Koga, composer, teacher, and performing artist, has devoted his life to mastering this delicate Instrument.