Michael Chikuzen Gould will be hosting his fall RO camp at the Stratford Ecological Center December 5th-7th, 2008. I have been to the last two RO camps and they were great learning experiences and a great opportunity to meet other shakuhachi players. If you get the chance to check out one of Chikuzen's camps, I recommend it. Not only will you learn a lot, but you will have a great time! Details are below.

When: Dec. 5~7, 2008
Where: Stratford Ecological Center, Delaware, Ohio.
The URL is Stratfordecologicalcenter.org and the address is 3083 Liberty Road Delaware,OH 43015.

Fall Camp is less than a month away now so please hurry up and register.

We will be focusing on the following things at this camp:1. Minyo Songs (Folk Tunes). These are of the stricter definitive genre called "Minyo" (not including every pop tune in otherwords). Last camp we did two versions of Yamanaka Bushi. I have chosen a few simple tunes that emphasize the melodies rather than be loaded down with just trills (there are some trills, of course). These are good for all levels as you learn to play with a certain feeling and learn how to "sing" with the flute. They are also good for learning how to read scores.2. Duets. Advanced and simple. 3. (1) Sankyoku piece. Sandan no Shirabe for beginners and Shin Takasago for advanced.4. Honkyoku. Shingetsu for Advanced and Ekoh for Beginner's.

The format for camp is as follows:

FRIDAY night:6:00`8:00 dinner/free time
8:00~ Duets

SAT:
8:00`9:00 Breakfast
9:00`12:00 shakuhachi
12:00`2:00 lunch/free time
2:00`5:00 shakuhachi
5:00~7:00 Dinner
7:00~ Concert Night

SUN.:
8:00~9:00 Breakfast
9:00~12:00 shakuhachi
12:00~1:30 Lunch
1:30~ 3:00 shakuhachi
3:00~ cleanup/EndPlease note that friday night is duet night.

You should be working on one part (shakuhachi #1 or #2 or #3)of several songs. We discussed this at last camp, especially for the advanced group. I'll be sending out scores this week for the beginner's duets. Advanced songs could include:-Tohne no Funa Uta-Seki no Aki Kaze (Fukuda rando/"Wind thru the Pass"-Henro-Shun Sui-Goryu (Yokoyama Katsuya).-Shika No Tohne-Natsu no Omoide (Recollections of Summer)

Please register asap or let me know your intentions to do so so that I can send out the booklets. Fee: $250.

Note: Make checks out to Michael Gould. Please do NOT include the word Chikuzen in the name on the check. Direct any questions to me at the email address below. Michael Chikuzen Gould
chikuzen@earthlink.net