ESS 20周年

2026 means also 20 years of shakuhachi activities and 20 years since the first European Summer School in London in 2006. And since the beginning ESS events are open to everybody and welcome people of all playing levels including people who want to start up shakuhachi.

Of course we are determined to make it a special occasion this year. Starting with inviting as many of the ESS people/teachers who worked for and significantly shaped the ESS over the last 20 years, we also have a special programme of workshops and concerts lined up.

The Opening Gala Concert – 20th anniversary ESS 2006-2026 on Thursday evening will be at the Japanese Embassy in Athens, and our Friday and Saturday evening concerts will take place in the beautiful Central Hall at the Parnassos Literary Society in central Athens, known for its excellent acoustics.

We also planning to have a ‘farewell dinner/celebration’ at a local restaurant near our Summer School location with food, raffle and music on Sunday evening. Of course all participants are welcome to join in and celebrate the first 20 ESS years with us.

We invited two outstanding players from Japan –  Ashigaki Kōmei from the Kinko-ryū Chikumeisha school and member of JSPN (Japanese Shakuhachi Professional-players Network) as well as Jin Rei, grandson of legendary Jin Nyodo, representing the Jin Nyodo style and lineage.

Our European Guests (in alphabetic order) will be Horacio Curti, Kiku Day, Yerasimos Dimovasilis, Jim Franklin, Philip Horan, Thorsten Knaub, Gunnar Jinmei Linder, Véronique Piron and Emmanuelle Rouaud.

Special Guest for koto/shamisen is Fumie Hihara.

ESS Athens 2026 commission for new music awarded to Ramon Humet.

As is ESS tradition, participants can expect a wide range of different shakuhachi schools and style being represented in Athens 2026.

There will be a some focus on the Kinko-ryū Chikumeisha school and as well as Jin Nyodo style due to our two guests from Japan.

Nevertheless we will have a large variety of other shakuhachi schools, styles and genres covered. From honkyoku, sankyoku, shinkyoku, min’yō, modern, improvisation, contemporary, electronics to anime as well as aspects of jiari shakuhachi making, and lectures/talk about various aspects of shakuhachi music and culture.

Besides our the above mentioned Gala Opening Concert (Japanese Embassy) and two concerts at the Parnassos Central Hall (Parnassos Literary Society), we will have 4 Open Mic Concerts and the most important of all, our Participants’ Concert to perform and share the pieces we learned over the workshop days. These will be at New York College, our main location for workshops.

ESS events are open to everybody and welcome people of all playing levels including people who want to start up. There is no requirement to be an ESS member either. But ESS members will receive dicounts at registration.

We are working towards opening the early bird booking/registration process on our website on 1. April 2026. This gives you time to arrange first your transport and accommodation needs, before booking your workshop place with your registration fees.

The budget calculations are ongoing, but we estimate to have to set the participation fees more or less as in previous years between €250 and €330, depending on member status or booking period.

This fee would include all workshops, talks, lectures and concert entrance fees.

All shakuhachi playing levels are welcome, including total beginners.
And as ‘levels’ are never clear cut and kind of subjective please see this as mainly as a guiding reference to the indicated workshops ‘levels’ on the Summer School schedule (first draft to be published in February).
Also please note:

• It is sometimes useful for participants to attend workshops at a higher level than that at which they find themselves. If one attempts to play at least slightly beyond one’s perceived capacity, one often discovers that, particularly in the workshop context, one is carried by the group to a higher level.
• Additionally, even if one cannot play at the required level, the experience of hearing a piece taught by an expert teacher can lead to insights into the nature of one’s own limitations and how to overcome them. So simply sitting in on and listening to a workshop at a higher level can be a valuable experience.
• Vice versa e.g. someone of elementary level, or even people considering themselves as intermediate level, may still benefit from lessons aimed at beginners as they cover basic principles like e.g. good posture, correct breathing and embouchure.
• Last but not least, if you are an aspiring shakuhachi teacher the courses will offer an opportunity to gain invaluable insight by seeing experienced teachers and players giving workshop lessons tailored and structured around the different needs of beginners to advanced level students.

The European Shakuhachi Society is a pan-European non-profit association based is France and has at its remit to foster a community around the instrument, tradition and music of the shakuhachi. For this we aim to facilitate a space where players can meet across ryūha (schools) and physical borders, and where the various shakuhachi groups across Europe can come together, by staging a large summer event each year in a different country in Europe since 2006.

The summer gathering, or Summer School, evolved into one of the major events in the shakuhachi calendar with participants joining the summer workshops from many different countries in Europe and beyond. One reason that the event moves from country to country is to be able to reach out to players and shakuhachi communities in a wide range of countries and help them to establish and nurture their communities and shakuhachi players networks.

Besides our Summer School we organise a number of online workshops, events, and gatherings to bring together shakuhachi enthusiasts to learn, play and perform together. The ESS also publishes BAMBOO, its biannual PDF Newsletter, dedicated to all things related to the shakuhachi.

ESS membership is open to anyone, to shakuhachi players of all levels or playing style or to any Japanese cultural afficianado but one does not need membership to take part in ESS events, though members have discounted participation fees.

Learn more about the ESS and how to become a member