Composers Concordance Presents Shakuhachi Focaccia: Bread, Bamboo, and Beyond
New York, NY — Composers Concordance presents Shakuhachi Focaccia: Bread, Bamboo, and Beyond, an eclectic evening where Japanese bamboo flutes, contemporary composition, guitar, strings, percussion, poetry—and freshly baked bread—come together in an unconventional celebration of sound and culture.
The concert features new and recent works by Dan Cooper, Ginka Mizuki, James Nyoraku Schlefer, Tasos Papastamou, Gene Pritsker, and Marina Vesic, performed by an ensemble of musicians whose backgrounds span contemporary classical music, improvisation, world music, and beyond.
At the center of the program is the distinctive sound of the shakuhachi, the traditional Japanese bamboo flute, performed by James Nyoraku Schlefer, Marco Karaku Burmester, and Adam Robinson. They will be joined by Gene Pritsker on guitar, Jennifer Vincent on bass, Damien Bassman on cajon, Tasos Papastamou on violin, poet Ray Tuttle and The Chiriuchi Ensemble, performing chiriuchi — a soft silk-cloth snap that “brushes away dust”.
A featured composition is Gene Pritsker’s ‘Even If You’ve Not Been Fed, Be Bread’, inspired by a quote attributed to the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi. The work plays with the metaphor of bread as both nourishment and transformation, fitting naturally into an evening where music, poetry, culture, and actual baked goods meet.
And because this is Shakuhachi Focaccia, the audience will also experience a culinary component: baked goods from Grandaisy Bakery will be featured as part of the event.
The program also continues the spirit of Composers Concordance’s Timbre Tantrum series. These concerts have explored the possibilities of focusing on multiple performers playing the same instrument—bringing together ensembles of three or four trumpets, violins, trombones, violas and other instruments to create dense, unusual, and often unexpected combinations of timbre. By concentrating on a single family of instruments, Timbre Tantrum transforms the familiar into something new, revealing the extraordinary range of color and texture that can emerge from seemingly similar sounds.
Rather than presenting music within a single stylistic box, Composers Concordance invites audiences into a musical landscape where the traditional and contemporary, composed and improvised, East and West, serious and playful can coexist.
Bread, bamboo, and beyond—Shakuhachi Focaccia is an evening designed to be heard, experienced, and perhaps even tasted.
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Event Details:
Shakuhachi Focaccia: Bread, Bamboo, and Beyond
Featuring Baked Goods from Grandaisy Bakery
Date: Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Time: 5pm
Venue: Tenri Cultural Institute of New York
43A W. 13th Street, New York, NY
Composers:
Dan Cooper, Ginka Mizuki, James Nyoraku Schlefer, Tasos Papastamou,
Gene Pritsker, and Marina Vesic
CompConrd Timbre Tantrum Ensemble:
James Nyoraku Schlefer, Marco Karaku Burmester, Adam Robinson – shakuhachi
Gene Pritsker – guitar, Jennifer Vincent – bass, Damien Bassman – cajon
Feature Performers:
Ray Tuttle – poet
Tasos Papastamou – violin
The Chiriuchi Ensemble
$20 in advance $30 at the door
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Staying in rotation for 43 years in NYC is a rare feat. In the case of a new music presenting organization, it requires not only diligence and cognizance of achievements of the past but also an ethic of keeping one’s ear to the ground for emerging stylistic and technological developments, as well as talented new composers on the scene. Composers Concordance, founded in 1984 by Joseph Pehrson and Patrick Hardish, advised by Otto Luening, strives to present contemporary music in innovative ways, with an emphasis on thematic programming. Directors Gene Pritsker and Dan Cooper co-curate the programs and lead the CompCord Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, String Orchestra, and Big Band. Associate Directors are Milica Paranosic, Peter Jarvis, Debra Kaye, Seth Boustead, and Audrey Morse. Composers Concordance has also created a Naxos-distributed record label: Composers Concordance Records. Composers Concordance’s overriding vision is to promote contemporary music, composers, and new works as a rightful and respected part of society. Good music performed and recorded well, pushing the boundaries of sound and composition.
“Composers Concordance..a veritable New York new music institution of concerts, album production and multiple ensembles under a sweeping, tenacious brand, thriving on the emulsion of contemporary classical, free improv, jazz and rock, overt humor and fearless political statements, all very much in evidence..The ensemble..was masterful throughout.”- John Pietaro, The New York City Jazz Record
“An unwavering force in giving composers exposure through concert bookings and its own record label, the intrepid new-music organization Composers Concordance” – The Brooklyn Rail
“The Composers Concordance fol
“Enterprising new music organization” – The New York Times
