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James Nyoraku Schlefer
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James Nyoraku Schlefer
James Nyoraku Schlefer (Japanese: ジェイムス 如楽 シュレファー), born 1956 in Brooklyn, New York, is a performer and teacher and composer of shakuhachi in New York City. He received the Dai-Shi-Han (Grand Master) certificate in 2001, one of only a handful of non-Japanese to receive this high-level award. In 2008, he received his second Shi-Han certificate from Mujuan Dojo, in Kyoto. In Japan, Schlefer has worked with Reibo Aoki, Katsuya Yokoyama, Yoshio Kurahashi, Yoshinobu Taniguchi, and Kifu Mitsuhashi. His first teacher was Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin. He holds a master's degree in Western flute and musicology from Queens College and currently teaches shakuhachi class at Columbia University and music history courses at the City University of New York. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Tanglewood, BAM, the Metropolitan Museum, at colleges and universities throughout the US and has toured in Japan, Indonesia, Brazil and counties in Europe. Schlefer has four solo recordings, Wind Heart(which travelled 120,000,000 miles aboard the Space Station MIR) Solstice Spirit (1998), Flare Up (2002), and In The Moment (2008). His music has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered. Schlefer's latest recording Spring Sounds, Spring Seas was released in June 2012 and features his original music for shakuhachi and orchestra.
Schlefer first heard the shakuhachi in 1979, while working towards his master's degree in musicology. This was at a musical soiree in New York's famed Dakota building, hosted by one of the professors at the CUNY Graduate Center. There was a sankyoku ensemble of shakuhachi, koto and shamisen, and following the recital, Schlefer was offered the opportunity to play the bamboo flute. The effort was met with total failure and taking that as a mandate, he began his now three-decade long pursuit.
Schlefer performs traditional and modern music with other Japanese instruments, including the shamisen and the koto. An exceptional solo artist, his appearances include lectures about the origin, history, and development of Japanese music. Schlefer has been a soloist in several orchestral settings including the New York City Opera, Karl Jenkins’ Requiem, and others.
He has performed and lectured at Duke University (in two, week-long artist residencies), and at the Juilliard School, Manhattan and Eastman Schools of Music, Vassar, Haverford, Brown, Moravian, Colby, Colby-Sawyer, Williams and Hunter Colleges, and at music festivals in the US, South America, Asia and Europe.
Nyoraku Sensei is head of the Kyo Shin An teaching studio in New York City. He has written two etude books for shakuhachi technical development.
As a composer, Schlefer has written many pieces for Japanese instruments including a shakuhachi concerto, a quintet for shakuhachi and string quartet, and numerous pieces for traditional Japanese instruments.
Schlefer was introduced to the shakuhachi in 1979, while working towards his master's degree in musicology. He attended a sankyoku ensemble of shakuhachi, koto and shamisen, and following the recital he was offered the chance to play the shakuhachi, and although he was a working professional silver flute player he was unable to produce a tone on the shakuhachi, spurring his interest and eventual devotion to the instrument.
Nyoraku Sensei is a grand master of the Jin Nyodo lineage, having learned from Kurahashi Yoshio, Mitsuhashi Kifu, Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin, and Keisuke Zenyoji, all of whose teachers learned from Jin Nyodo. Jin Sensei's honkyoku repertoire draws from several traditional lines; Kinko ryu, Kinpu ryu, and Fuke Meian. In turn, Schlefer has taught and licensed several students, including Brian Tairaku Ritchie.
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James Nyoraku Schlefer
James Nyoraku Schlefer (Japanese: ジェイムス 如楽 シュレファー), born 1956 in Brooklyn, New York, is a performer and teacher and composer of shakuhachi in New York City. He received the Dai-Shi-Han (Grand Master) certificate in 2001, one of only a handful of non-Japanese to receive this high-level award. In 2008, he received his second Shi-Han certificate from Mujuan Dojo, in Kyoto. In Japan, Schlefer has worked with Reibo Aoki, Katsuya Yokoyama, Yoshio Kurahashi, Yoshinobu Taniguchi, and Kifu Mitsuhashi. His first teacher was Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin. He holds a master's degree in Western flute and musicology from Queens College and currently teaches shakuhachi class at Columbia University and music history courses at the City University of New York. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Tanglewood, BAM, the Metropolitan Museum, at colleges and universities throughout the US and has toured in Japan, Indonesia, Brazil and counties in Europe. Schlefer has four solo recordings, Wind Heart(which travelled 120,000,000 miles aboard the Space Station MIR) Solstice Spirit (1998), Flare Up (2002), and In The Moment (2008). His music has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered. Schlefer's latest recording Spring Sounds, Spring Seas was released in June 2012 and features his original music for shakuhachi and orchestra.
Schlefer first heard the shakuhachi in 1979, while working towards his master's degree in musicology. This was at a musical soiree in New York's famed Dakota building, hosted by one of the professors at the CUNY Graduate Center. There was a sankyoku ensemble of shakuhachi, koto and shamisen, and following the recital, Schlefer was offered the opportunity to play the bamboo flute. The effort was met with total failure and taking that as a mandate, he began his now three-decade long pursuit.
Schlefer performs traditional and modern music with other Japanese instruments, including the shamisen and the koto. An exceptional solo artist, his appearances include lectures about the origin, history, and development of Japanese music. Schlefer has been a soloist in several orchestral settings including the New York City Opera, Karl Jenkins’ Requiem, and others.
He has performed and lectured at Duke University (in two, week-long artist residencies), and at the Juilliard School, Manhattan and Eastman Schools of Music, Vassar, Haverford, Brown, Moravian, Colby, Colby-Sawyer, Williams and Hunter Colleges, and at music festivals in the US, South America, Asia and Europe.
Nyoraku Sensei is head of the Kyo Shin An teaching studio in New York City. He has written two etude books for shakuhachi technical development.
As a composer, Schlefer has written many pieces for Japanese instruments including a shakuhachi concerto, a quintet for shakuhachi and string quartet, and numerous pieces for traditional Japanese instruments.
Schlefer was introduced to the shakuhachi in 1979, while working towards his master's degree in musicology. He attended a sankyoku ensemble of shakuhachi, koto and shamisen, and following the recital he was offered the chance to play the shakuhachi, and although he was a working professional silver flute player he was unable to produce a tone on the shakuhachi, spurring his interest and eventual devotion to the instrument.
Nyoraku Sensei is a grand master of the Jin Nyodo lineage, having learned from Kurahashi Yoshio, Mitsuhashi Kifu, Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin, and Keisuke Zenyoji, all of whose teachers learned from Jin Nyodo. Jin Sensei's honkyoku repertoire draws from several traditional lines; Kinko ryu, Kinpu ryu, and Fuke Meian. In turn, Schlefer has taught and licensed several students, including Brian Tairaku Ritchie.