Yung Flutes Shakuhachi

  • At Matera, Italy, one of the three oldest human settlements in the world.

See new flute listings this week here https://yungflutes.com/blog/

Hi, I’m Perry Yung. Welcome to my website. I am a multimedia performance artist, actor, musician and shakuhachi flute craftsman. I first discovered the shakuhachi flute while performing in New York City as an actor in Ellen Stewart’s experimental theater production Oedipus the King. Night after night, the subtle sound of the flute became all encompassing. Soon, I started making the shakuhachi under the tutelage of Yukio Tsuji, the pit musician in Oedipus, as it was impossible to buy an instrument in the pre-internet days of 1994. Time passed and eight years later received a Japan United States Friendship Commission Artist grant to live in Japan to study with Kinya Sogawa. Since that time, the shakuhachi has become an integral part of my life encompassing crafting, performance in theater, film and TV and meditation. Please feel free to ask any questions whatsoever. I may not be able to reply right away but will do so asap. Thanks! – Perry

If shipping for repairs, I work from different locations so email me at yungflutes at gmail dot com for the address. Call or text (646) nine 42-Seven540 (preventing bots from finding me)

Education: Bachelors of Fine Art, Summa Cum Laude 1990. San Francisco State University.

Grants: Asian Cultural Council Artist Fellowship. Shakuhachi research for Edo Period instruments and music 2014. Lower Manhattan Community Council grant. Theatrical work with shakuhachi and Asian American identity 2005. Jerome Robbins Ear to the Ground Grant. Jet Stream. Mulberry St Theater. 2005. Joseph Papp Public Theater Playwrights Development Program. Rice Cooker Chronicles, 2003. Japan United States Friendship Commission Artist Fellowship 2002. La Mama Theater Artist in Residency 1993 – 1999. Martha Graham Scholarship 1991.

Shakuhachi Photos from the workbench – Jinashi, Jiari and Honshu red urushi lacquer.:

  • Hotchiku Shakuhachi Root bottom
  • Hotchiku Shakuhachi Roots
  • Raw root end bamboo stock
  • Shakuhachi repars
  • Styles of shakuhachi
  • The work bench
  • Mixing Japanese Urushi Lacquer
  • Mixing Japanese Urushi Lacquer
  • Filtering Japanese Urushi Lacquer

Performance works: Breath, World International Shakuhachi Festival, London July 2018. Family Playdate, La Mama Theater series. 2008 – present. Jet Stream, Mulberry St Theater. 2005 SLANT Performance Group, eight original theatrical productions involving shakuhachi. La Mama Theater. Joseph Papp Public Theater, domestic and international tours 1995 – present.

Recent Performance Gallery:

  • Jet Stream Mulberry St Theater NYC 2005
  • Breath, World ShakuhachI Festival, London 2018
  • La Mama Playdate 2014
  • La Mama Playdate 2010
  • Breath London 2018
  • Breath London 2018
  • Benji the Dove film 2016
  • With Ylfa EdelStein St Marks Theater, NYC 2019
  • Great Jones Variations 2013

Theater: Great Jones Repertory Group 1993 – present. SLANT Performance group 1995 – present. Ping Chong 1998 and 2008. Fred Ho and the Afro-Asian American art Ensemble 1991 – 2013. Pan Asian Repertory Theater 1992 – 2000.

Touring: PANORAMA, Motus and Great Jones, Rome, Partenza and Bari – Nov 2018. Pan Asian Repertory Theater. Cairo Egypt Johannesburg, South Africa. 1993 – 1997 SLANT Performance Group 1995 – 2008. Domestic and international. Trojan Women/Fragments of a Greek Trilogy. 1997 – 2002. Domestic and international – Italy, Greece, Croatia, Macedonia, Austria, Former Yugoslavia, Turkey, Taiwan, Japan and Korea to name a few.

Collaboration with Tom Lee Projects.

Community Gallery

  • Sharing with Ranger at Santa Cruz Islands, CA
  • Sharing with local in Doha, Qatar
  • Sharing with nurse in Cape Town, South Africa
  • Three Rivers College Ze Flutemaking and playing workshop
  • Fire Lotus Temple flutemaking and playing workshop
  • Zen Mountain Monastery Flutemaking and playing workshop
  • A focuses 5 year-old
  • WIth guard in Qatar
  • Ralph Samuelson’s Shakuhachi workshop
  • A curious 7 year-old
  • Peaceful Protest 2016 Central Park NYC
  • Fire Lotus Temple Flutemaking and playing workshop


Those interested in my television and film work can visit my actors blog.  – https://perryyung.wordpress.com/