Carl plays the shakuhachi, a Japanese end-blown flute with roots in the Zen Buddhist tradition. His solo performances concentrate on honkyoku, the Zen Budddhist repertoire. He has studied the traditional and contemporary repertoire from leading players in Japan and Australia. He has been teaching and performing in Queensland for over twenty years. Carl has performed professionally interstate, in Japan and in India. Carl has performed at the last two prestigious World Shakuhachi Festivals, in Sydney in 2008 and in Kyoto in 2012. He has also taught and performed at several Australian Shakuhachi Festivals, most recently at ASF2018 in Melbourne in 2018. He has also performed at many festivals, including Woodford, for BEMAC, at the Brisbane Powerhouse, the Japanese Consulate, among others. These performances are both solo and with other artists, particularly the Brisbane- based koto player, Takako Nishibori. In 2017, Carl supported the his teacher and world renowned player, Kakizakai Kauru, in a concert in Brisbane. Carl also organises and runs workshops for schools through the Japanese Cultural Centre.
He has made three recordings in India. The first was at the prestigious Madras Music Academy (equivalent of the Queensland Cultural Centre). There he recorded a CD called Revelation with leading Carnatic violinists and international musicians. It hit the Top 10 in the classical music loving state of Tamil Nadu. The second and third were recorded in the spiritually important city of Varanasi in northern India in early 2014. There, he and his music partner in IJIMP, Ravikesh Singh, along with three leading north Indian classical musicians recorded an album, Soul of Benares. At the same time, Carl took the opportunity to record in the same studio with the world class sound engineer, ”Pumpy”, and created the solo honkyoku album, Letter B. Tracks from Letter B can be heard at: https://carlrathus.bandcamp.com. A home recording of Carl playing a classic Japanese piece with Takako Nishibori can be heard at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChcyjscYdsA.
For further information you can contact Carl through this form or
c_rathus@hotmail.com, 07 3379-7859, 0404 89 89 47:
Carl Rathus Shakuhachi 