Richard Stagg is a Western-trained flute player and a member of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London. He started to learn the Shakuhachi in the beginning of the 1980s by himself, from books and records. Later on, as his interest and love for the instrument grew, he became a pupil of Yoshikazu Iwamoto, a former pupil of Katsuya Yokoyama, then residing in England. Since the beginning of the 1990s, he has given numerous concerts, including several appearances in Japan. He is member of the Yamato Ensemble, which gave its first concert in Yokohama in 1990, the other members being Kikuko Satoh and Aiko Hasegawa, both on koto, shamisen, and voice. ~ Bruno Deschênes, Rovi