Hello all, I am frequently asked, “Why don’t you have any shakuhachi to for sale?” Well, I make nearly all my flutes on commission these days as the shop is always busy with repairs, restorations and fine tuning for professionals. You have to remember that I am a one person operation and work in the traditional manner of most Japanese craftsmen. My flutes are hand made with patience and care so that they reflect the deep beauty of Japanese culture. The photo above shows some of my 1.8 stock for my high end instruments. They range from about 5 - 15 years old (or more). These pieces were obtained over the last 10 years from Kinya Sogawa who gets it form his supplier in Nara, Japan. The classical 1.8 with proper node spacing are difficult to find in a bamboo grove. One can spend all day looking and not find a single 1.8 piece. Many traditional makers who harvest their own bamboo still have to get their 1.8 stock from special bamboo harvesters (yes they exist!). Today, I am starting on a Chikusing 1.8. I am always extremely grateful to those who come to me as there are many options these days. I am even more surprised when I tell them the wait can be 6 months and they say, “No problem”.  To these people I say, “Great. You will have the best flute I can make. It will not only play with all the advanced fingerings required of shakuhachi music, but in time will feel like a friend who will always be there for you.

The Universal Flute:
A Concert of Contemporary American Music for the Shakuhachi Performed by Ralph Samuelson with guest artists Nancy Beckman and John Singer (shakuhachi) 
This program features compositions for the Japanese bamboo flute, shakuhachi, by American composers, including works by Henry Cowell, Elizabeth Brown, Richard Teitelbaum, and Barbara White.

Date: Feb 08,2012
Time: 07:30 PM - 09:00 PM
Meridian Gallery
535 Powell Street San Francisco, CA 94108
Phone:415 398 7229

Ralph Samuelson is a performer and teacher of the Japanese bamboo flute, shakuhachi.  He was trained in the classical tradition of the Kinko School under the tutelage of the late Living National Treasure Goro Yamaguchi, as well as by Shudo Yamato and Kodo Araki V. He began shakuhachi studies in 1969 as a graduate student in the World Music Program at Wesleyan University and studied traditional music in Tokyo in the 1970s under the guidance of the distinguished musicologist Fumio Koizumi.  Mr. Samuelson has performed in leading concert venues in New York, around the United States, and in Europe and Asia.  He has been presented in live radio and television broadcasts in the US and Japan and has recorded for Music of the World, Lyrichord Records, CBS Masterworks, Axiom, Tzadik, and other labels.  In 1991 and in 2008 he was the featured shakuhachi soloist in the New York City Ballet’s production of Jerome Robbins’ “Watermill”, with music by Teiji Ito.  In spring 2011 he was an artist-in-residence at the Lou Harrison House in Joshua Tree,California; and in fall 2011 he was a guest artist at the Seoul Institute of the Arts in Korea. Since 1976 Mr. Samuelson has also worked as a foundation professional facilitating and supporting international cultural exchange, and from 1991 to 2008 he served as director of the Asian Cultural Council, a foundation supporting exchanges in the arts and humanities between the United States and Asia.