rssAbout me
My name is Philip Seikishi (聖騎士) Horan. I spent two years in Japan, studying the Tozan-ryu (都山流) in Hiroshima. I have studied shakuhachi with Sunny Yeung (Hong Kong), Hanaoka Seizan (Hiroshima) and Kiku Day and Jean-François Lagrost.
I completed a Masters in Ethnomusicology at the Irish World Music Centre in Limerick, focusing on shakuhachi acoustics and Japanese aesthetics. I have explored playing Irish and Celtic musics on shakuhachi. I play in a variety of styles from the traditional honkyoku (本曲) and sankyoku (三曲) to modern pieces and jazz. I give regular performaces in Ireland and abroad and teach shakuhachi to a small but growing community of shakuhachi players in Ireland.
I began making shakuhachi when I lived in Japan from 1999-2001. My shakuhachi are ideal for zen meditation or ‘blowing zen’. All are made from root-end bamboo. I make both ji-nashi and ji-ari shakuhachi in all sizes. My shakuhachi are charactised by their responsiveness and naturalness.
Recent performances
- First European Shakuhachi Society Summer School in London, July 2006: workshop on Irish music for shakuhachi.
- Maynooth University lunchtime solo recital, October 2006
- Second European Shakuhachi Society Summer School in Munster, July 2007: workshop on Irish music for shakuhachi.
- Prague Shakuhachi Summer School, August 2007.
- Concert organised by the Japanese Embassy in Dublin Castle with Bill Dowdell (flute), John Feeley (guitar) and Junshi Murakami (Irish harp), December 2007.
- Sydney International Shakuhachi Festival, July 2008: performance at the Shakuhachi Grand Prix and participant concerts.
- 'Watch this Space' festival at the National Theatre in London, August 2008: I performed with the Japanese group 'Haru Ichiban'.
- Festival of World Cultures 2009 in Dun Laoghaire with Junshi Murakami.
- National Concert Hall, Dublin on September 8, 2009: I performed a version of "Rokudan" with "Raga Pianist", Ustav Lal, Koushik Chandrashekar on mridangam and Rohan Kapadia on tabla.
- Experience Japan Day, Dublin, April 11, 2010.
- Celebrating 100 years of the Japanese Gardens, The Irish National Stud, May 16, 2010.
- On the 15th October 2010, I performed with Masahiro Niitsuma (biwa), Hazuki Demachi (shakuhachi) and Thomas Charles Marshall (biwa) at St. Ann’s Church in Dublin. The event was hosted by the Japanese Business Association and sponsored by the Ireland Japan Association in cooperation with the Embassy of Japan in Ireland.
- Visit the shakuhachizen blog.
- Check out the shakuhachizen myspace page.
- Listen to the sound of shakuhachi.
