Historic Round Top performance venue Festival Hill has been chosen to host the gala concert for the 2025 World Shakuhachi Festival.
Historic Round Top performance venue Festival Hill has been chosen to host the gala concert for the 2025 World Shakuhachi Festival.
Many people may not have heard the term ‘shakuhachi’, but it is prominent on the soundtracks of film productions such as Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, The Last Samurai, and Kill Bill, among others. The shakuhachi has been used in popular music, most notably in the intro of Peter Gabriel’s hit song Sledgehammer (1986).
Music of the shakuhachi went interstellar when the “Golden Record” was launched on the Voyager II spacecraft in 1977, featuring a recording of the shakuhachi legend, the previous Living National Living Treasure Gorō Yamaguchi (1933-1999). The shakuhachi has become an important instrument in contemporary music and is—along with taiko drums—perhaps the best-known Japanese instrument in the world.
WFS 2025 is hosted by Texas A&M’s College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts. Featuring 17 concerts in five geographic areas throughout Texas, the entire schedule for the four-day event can be viewed here. The highlight of WSF 2025 is the April 19 gala concert at Festival Hill.
WSF 2025 Executive Director and Texas A&M Professor Dr. Martin Regan fell in love with Round Top over ten years ago when he visited the antique festival.
“Round Top is the Texas of your dreams, and an ideal location for the highlight of WSF 2025,” he said. “It’s a place to buy cheese and get your Texas bourbon, enjoy mouth-watering Mexican food, explore art galleries and shop for cowboy hats, vintage boots, gorgeous etched belt buckles and locally made products, all within walking distance. When we visit Round Top on Saturday, April 19, I wish for our 230+ guests to experience local history and color, and hopefully catch a glimpse of the bluebonnets!”.”
Titled “Treasures of Shakuhachi Musical Heritage—From Then to Now”, the Festival Hill concert features leading shakuhachi performers from all over the world, most notably the current Living National Treasure of Japan, Hōzan Nomura.
Following in the footsteps of past WSF host cities including Tokyo, New York, Sydney, Kyoto, and London, WSF 2025 is the first time that this event has been held in the United States in over twenty years.
For four days in April, central Texas will be transformed by the sublime sounds of the shakuhachi, a magical instrument that transcends space and time. Please don’t miss a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to experience this jewel of Japan’s musical culture. Tickets for all mainstage concerts, including the concert at Festival Hill, may be purchased here through the Texas A&M Memorial Student Center Box Office or by the QR code on the flyer below.
