hatao / Tomoaki Hatakeyama

<<Bio>> hatao is a Japanese professional musician who plays Celtic and Nordic traditional wind instruments hatao (Tomoaki Hatakeyama) was born on November 21, 1978 in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, and now lives in Muko City, Kyoto. During his university days in Kyoto, he heard the tin whistle and was fascinated by its sound. He taught himself to play the tin whistle and the wooden flute, and then went to Ireland and Scotland to take lessons from the local masters. Since then, he has visited Celtic regions several times. 2008 hatao’s “Tone of the Earth”, the first tin whistle textbook in Japanese, was published. 4,000 copies have been sold so far. 2010 hatao starts performing in foreign countries. He performs overseas every year, in countries including France, Denmark, China, and Taiwan. 2011 “縁 – enishi －”,hatao’s first solo album, was released 2012 hatao gave a lecture on Celtic Music as a visiting professor at Beijing Contemporary Music Academy 2013 “10000 Players Project” started. hatao published the booklet “Let’s Play the Tin Whistle” and made it available for free. His aim is to have 10,000 whistle players in Japan. He also released a Chinese version in Taiwan. hatao visited Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, and learned to play Nordic instruments including the willow flute. 2014 He translated “Willow Flute” by Jean-Pierre Yvert, a textbook for the willow flute (traditional instrument in Norway and Sweden), into Japanese. This is the first time that the instrument and technique for playing it have been introduced to Japan. Nowadays, hatao mainly plays in "hatao & nami", a duo with Nami Uehara, a piano and Irish harp player: http://hataonami.com/ He visits Celtic regions to discover unknown tunes and to meet players and makers, and presents what he learns through his playing and publications. He tries to disseminate Celtic music to Japan, giving lessons, selling instruments through his online shop "Celt no Fueyasan" (meaning Celtic flute shop), and providing information about the music. hatao believes a musician is a medium. He transforms the beauty and mystery that he finds in nature and life into music, shares it with his listeners, and aims to have a good influence on their lives. In other words, he hopes that his music makes people happier and their lives richer. He is glad if his music is of service to other people. Not just learning from Celtic tradition, he wants to create his own music deeply rooted in Asia. In recent years he has become interested in how Celtic music is accepted in Asian countries, and has mixed with Chinese, Taiwanese, and Korean musicians. <<< C D >>> 「縁 –enishi-」 Price : 2500 yen hatao’s first solo album, consisting of 9 of his own tunes and 3 traditional ones from Ireland, Japan, and Canada. “enishi” means “bond” in Japanese, but it also refers to “inis”, which means “island” in Irish. hatao aims to bond these two eastern and western island countries with music. He composed the tunes inspired by his trip to Kumano Kodo (old pilgrimage road to Kumano, a World Heritage Site), and expresses the Japanese spirit with Celtic music. English and Chinese translations are included. Listen: http://irishflute.info/enishi.htm <<< Books >>> Tone of the Earth (in Japanese) 3150 yen Willow Flute (in Japanese) 3500 yen Let’s Play the Tin Whistle Japanese Version Free Chinese Version 300TND <<< Shop >>> Celt no Fueyasan (hatao’s online shop) deals in various kinds of instruments, textbooks, and CDs. All the instruments are selected and checked by hatao himself. Demonstrations of each instrument can be seen on the shop site. All items can be shipped abroad. Email orders are accepted. Use Paypal for payment. Instrument makers: Michael Burke, Colin Goldie, Gilles Lehart, Casey Barns, etc. http://celtnofue.com/ <<< Lessons >>> Instruments taught : Tin whistle , wooden flute, willow flute, etc. Teaching location : Muko City, Kyoto Fee : 4000 yen / hour Contact : hatao@irishflute.info hatao is willing to give lessons and concerts outside Japan. He speaks English and some Chinese, and has experience in teaching and playing in overseas countries. Feel free to contact him from anywhere in the world. ---------------------------------------------------- Questions, comments, and concerns: hatao(at mark)irishflute.info +81-(0)75-925-6372