Andrew MacGregor

Australian musician Andrew MacGregor trained in Japan to become a master of the shakuhachi after first encountering the flute on a Leon Russell recording. Its haunting tones and emotional resonance sparked a deep commitment to the repertoire transmitted through Zen Buddhist lineages. His training began under Riley Lee in 1985, followed by Yokoyama Katsuya in 1989. In 1993 he moved to Osaka for an immersive apprenticeship as uchi deshi under Tadashi Tajima. Since 2001 he has continued lessons with Miyata Kohachiro.

He issued the traditional duet collection Nesting of the Cranes with Riley Lee in 1994. Four years afterward came the joint project Music for Guitar & Shakuhachi -- Album One alongside classical guitarist Marion Schaap. The next year he presented Four Shakuhachi Meditations, merging Zen contemplative elements with added instruments, voices, and sonic layers. Ren-Men, a 2001 collaboration with award-winning Japanese koto player Miho Yamaji, appeared next. Mizuho, recorded in 2003 with 21-string koto player Haruko Watanabe, followed the same year he reached the finals of the All-Japan National Music Competition for traditional instruments. Throughout the decade he continued releasing material such as Classical Shakuhachi, Zen Golden Memories, and Sentimental Shakuhachi, along with the singles "Tanah Pusaka" featuring Jia Wei Lee and "Wild Geese."

Having performed across Australia, Japan, the U.S., and the Netherlands, MacGregor has made his home in Penang, Malaysia since 2015, where he teaches and appears in concerts on request.