Thorsten Knaub is an artist, digital filmmaker and shakuhachi player/maker based in London and Paris. He holds a Master in Fine Art Media from the Slade School of Art in London and has presented his artworks and projects internationally.
Knaub initially discovered the shakuhachi in the early 1990s while travelling in Asia. He started learning with Michael Coxall (SOAS), as well as Clive Bell in London, and began exploring traditional solo and ensemble repertoire from various schools while also attending the sankyoku study group at SOAS in the early 2000s. In 2011 he released the critically acclaimed CD and a short-film Listening Station – music for abandoned structures and shakuhachi (2011), a site-specific improvisation recorded in the abandoned cold war US listening station situated near Berlin, Germany.
Since 2014 Knaub focuses on studying traditional honkyoku/dokyoku and modern repertoire with Teruo Furuya, head of Chikushinkai/KSK Tokyo and recently received his shihan diploma from Furuya sensei.
Having been experimenting with making shakuhachi from early on, he eventually was taught by the late master maker Miura Ryuho specific approaches and techniques of jiari shakuhachi making. Being Miura’s only student in Europe, Knaub now crafts performance level shakuhachi using traditional materials and methods.
Knaub has been taking part in ESS activities since the first summer event in 2006 and has been an active member of the ESS Board since 2012. He was part of the WSF2018 London executive committee and in 2022 he was elected to the chairperson position of the ESS.