Ralph Samuelson
Ralph Samuelson, accomplished shakuhachi player, performed at Eiko's first solo performance in 2014. They recently reunited for the Fukushima memorial event at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on March 11, 2019, where they performed a duet together.
Ralph Samuelson is a performer and teacher of the Japanese bamboo flute, shakuhachi. He was trained in the classical tradition of the Kinko School of shakuhachi by the late Living National Treasure Goro Yamaguchi as well as by Shudo Yamato and Kodo Araki V, both in Japan and in the graduate world music program at Wesleyan University. He performs traditional and contemporary music throughout North America, Asia, and Europe, and has recorded for CBS Masterworks, Lyrichord, Music of the World, Tzadik, XI Records, Pogus, and other labels. He was the shakuhachi soloist in the New York City Ballet production of Jerome Robbins’ "Watermill" with music by Teiji Ito, and his "Flutes of Hope” ensemble commemorating the victims of the earthquake/tsunami in Japan is presented annually in New York at venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. In 2011 and 2013, he was artist in residence at the Lou Harrison House in Joshua Tree, California. He is an international advisor for the Seoul Institute of the Arts in Korea and is senior advisor and former director of the Asian Cultural Council.
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