ABOUT
Araki Kodo VI - Hanzaburo Araki
In April of 1988, at the age of 17, Hanzaburo Araki picked up the instrument of his father and grandfathers for the first time. Just four months later, in a concert in Shimonoseki, Japan, he made his professional debut to the exacting standards of his father, Araki Kodo V, before contemporaries and enthusiasts who compared him to his grandfather, Araki Kodo IV.
For the next four years, he played and instructed extensively in Japan, both privately and at Keio University, during which time he was named Baikyoku IV, setting him in line to continue the family tradition.
Upon returning to the United States, he continued to play and teach while also pursuing a career in traditional Irish music, playing the flute and tin whistle. However, shakuhachi remained a part of Araki's musical profile, and so he was a panel leader and workshop host at the Seattle Folklife Festival for over 20 years and spoke and performed at the World Interdependence Day Celebration in Mexico City. He has also performed for the Japanese Consul General, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, and as a featured soloist with the Seattle Symphony. In 2009, he was named Araki Kodo VI by his father in a small ceremony in Tokyo.
Named after Araki Hanzaburo (Kodo II), he is the 6th generation to be named a shakuhachi master and the world’s only player to carry that title. Inarguably the most important name and lineage in the genre, his namesake had a profound effect on the art form. One of Araki’s (Kodo II) main accomplishments was an improvement in shakuhachi notation. In classic "honkyoku," or solo playing, there was no need to indicate rhythms and tempos; ensemble playing required precision and clarity regarding time and speed. Araki (Kodo II) developed a system of notation consisting of katakana characters and a system of dots and lines which indicate rhythm that is in common usage to this day.
In April of 1988, at the age of 17, Hanzaburo Araki picked up the instrument of his father and grandfathers for the first time. Just four months later, in a concert in Shimonoseki, Japan, he made his professional debut to the exacting standards of his father, Araki Kodo V, before contemporaries and enthusiasts who compared him to his grandfather, Araki Kodo IV.
For the next four years, he played and instructed extensively in Japan, both privately and at Keio University, during which time he was named Baikyoku IV, setting him in line to continue the family tradition.
Upon returning to the United States, he continued to play and teach while also pursuing a career in traditional Irish music, playing the flute and tin whistle. However, shakuhachi remained a part of Araki's musical profile, and so he was a panel leader and workshop host at the Seattle Folklife Festival for over 20 years and spoke and performed at the World Interdependence Day Celebration in Mexico City. He has also performed for the Japanese Consul General, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, and as a featured soloist with the Seattle Symphony. In 2009, he was named Araki Kodo VI by his father in a small ceremony in Tokyo.
Named after Araki Hanzaburo (Kodo II), he is the 6th generation to be named a shakuhachi master and the world’s only player to carry that title. Inarguably the most important name and lineage in the genre, his namesake had a profound effect on the art form. One of Araki’s (Kodo II) main accomplishments was an improvement in shakuhachi notation. In classic "honkyoku," or solo playing, there was no need to indicate rhythms and tempos; ensemble playing required precision and clarity regarding time and speed. Araki (Kodo II) developed a system of notation consisting of katakana characters and a system of dots and lines which indicate rhythm that is in common usage to this day.
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