Join us Thursday, September 4th from 4:30pm - 6:00pm for our Free First Thursday event. This month, you will be able to stroll the Garden, taking in the manicured landscape with the traditional sounds of the Shakuhachi performed by Patrick Johnson.
Patrick Johnson:
I began playing the shakuhachi in the early 1990’s. At that time I was a devoted student of Aikido and Iaido and I was looking for a meditative practice that would complement my martial arts training. I was fortunate to discover the vertical bamboo flute of Japan, the Shakuhachi, and I was immediately captivated by its sound. Within the next couple of years I transitioned out of the Aikido dojo and into formal Zen training in Seattle and it was then that I learned that the Shakuhachi has a centuries long association with Zen temples in Japan and that there is actually a genre of Zen music, called Honkyoku, that is still being played today.
Throughout its history the Shakuhachi has been used to play a wide range of musical styles and genres including court music, folksongs and lullabies, accompaniments to koto and shamisen, pop music, movie soundtracks and western tunes. And while my own playing includes koto pieces and some western music, especially Jazz and Blues, Honkyoku continues to be the mainstay of my practice. As many others have noted, music is a language and for me, the Shakuhachi expresses the deep experience of reality just as it is – very much in the Zen sense – that cannot be put into words. The sound of the instrument is unique among woodwinds and for many of us is absolutely enthralling.
I’ve continued to play the Shakuhachi and practice Zen for the past three decades. Currently I am a licensed teacher in the lineage of Yokoyama Katsuya and I am the founder and chief instructor of the Seattle Shakuhachi Study Group, a flute dojo that has its headquarters Seattle.
If you’re interested, you can find out more about me and about this remarkable instrument and its music at www.seattlebambooflute.org.
Entry to the garden is free the whole day from noon to closing for Free First Thursday.
Final entry to the garden is 45 minutes before closing.