Stan 'Kakudo' Richardson

Stan Richardson was born in Coventry, England in 1952. He began his interest and study of music at age five with the recorder and soon progressed to violin and viola. At age eight he was composing classical music and had completed a string quartet by age eleven. Stan was also an avid singer and became head choir boy in his local church. He sang often at the famous Coventry Cathedral and was present at some notable premiers including the first performance of Benjamin Britten's Noah's Ark.

Stan became interested in ethnic music from the spiritual traditions of Japan and China and in 1972 began study of the shakuhachi. He has studied with Ronnie Seldin in New York and some of Japan 's greatest masters including Yoshio Kurahashi in Kyoto .

Stan is currently head of Mujuan Shakuhachi Dojo in Texas, a branch of his teacher's school based in Kyoto and founded by Yodo Kurahashi. He received his Shihan or Masters teaching license and the shakuhachi name Kakudo from Yoshio Kurahashi sensei. He has approximately ten students from around Texas and his teaching emphasizes the ancient meditation music of the Zen tradition.

Stan has established a devoted following and performs regularly at festivals and local functions. He has appeared at many notable area venues including the Myerson Symphony Center , Dallas Museum of Art, Kimbell Museum of Art, and the Crowe Collection of Asian Art. His recording Shakuhachi Meditation Music is one of the best selling recordings of solo shakuhachi music by a gaijin or non -Japanese. In 1998 he was a featured performer and teacher at the World Shakuhachi Festival in Boulder , Colorado . He was a featured teacher and performer at the World Shakuhachi Festival in New York in 2004 and also at the Australian Festival in Sydney the same year. Stan has performed on several occasions and recorded with the world famous Turtle Creek Chorale. In 2002 he performed with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra at the gala event featuring renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Stan is available for lecture/demonstrations and performance. He is well versed in the history and philosophy of shakuhachi tradition and his presentations can cover a wide range of topics from notation systems and classical music to the use of shakuhachi in modern music and composition. He can be reached at shaku@swbell.net.

My teacher Kurahashi Sensei	Ronnie Seldin & Sasaki Sensei
Jin Nyodo Sensei