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Nancy BeckmanEnsembles
Nancy Beckman began studying the shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) at Meianji Zen temple in Kyoto from 1972-1976 where she learned the traditional solo Zen Buddhist meditational pieces. She received her shakuhachi name Fukushin and the transmission to teach shakuhachi from the Zen temple Meianji in Kyoto, Japan. She studied various styles of shakuhachi and ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University from 1976-1978. In the 1980's, she used her knowledge of Japanese language and photography in site-specific performance art pieces, receiving an MA in InterArts from San Francisco State University in 1987. She went on to design photographic masks and visuals for theatre companies in San Francisco. From 1989, she began "intuitive improvisation" on the shakuhachi with Una Nakamura on vocals and percussion, for meditative concerts, retreats, and "sound blessings". She has been inspired by studying Deep Listening with composer Pauline Oliveros and the Four Fold Way with Angeles Arrien. She is based in the Santa Rosa, California area and teaches the solo meditative shakuhachi repertoire (Myoan-ryu) as a spiritual practice. She also plays shakuhachi and lyre for hospice as a Certified Music Practitioner in the Music for Healing and Transition Program, improvises and plays experimental music, composes improvisational sound meditations, and combines her love of the unexpected and light-hearted social activism in site-specfic events called "Ear to the Earth." She is a member of the ensembles Cardew Choir, Gusty Winds May Exist, Dream Down Duvet (with Viv Corringham) and the Sisters of the Sound Continuum. |
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