Richard Stagg is an orchestral flute-player who has studied the shakuhachi for twelve years since his first visit to Japan. He began by learning from books and records, but was soon persuaded by fellow English shakuhachi-enthusiasts to follow the more orthodox path of having proper lessons. He has had the good fortune of being a pupil of Yoshikazu Iwamoto, who is a pupil of Katsuya Yokoyama and a resident in England. It was through his teacher that he was introduced to the other members of the Ensemble, which gave its first performance at Yokohama in 1990. As well as finding the shakuhachi and its music fascinating for their own sake he also finds them an indispensable aid to his study of the Western flute and its literature. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.