Celtic concert

Hanz Araki and Katherine Claire will perform at 7 p.m. Dec. 16 at Island Music Center.

Advance tickets, $20, are  available at info@islandmusic.org or by calling  780-6911.

For more information, visit  www.islandmusic.org.

Brighten the dark days with an eclectic concert with Hanz Araki and Katherine Claire at 7 p.m. tonight at Island Music Center.

While Araki may be best known in the Northwest for his playing and singing of Celtic music, his deep roots are in the shakuhachi, the traditional bamboo “Zen flute” of Japan.

Trained by his father, Kinko Ryu Grand Master Kodo Araki V, Hanz (short for Hanzaburo) can claim  the title of the world’s only sixth-generation shakuhachi player.

He took up the shakuhachi at age 17, making his concert debut in Japan only four months later. He went on to teach shakuhachi at Keio University in Tokyo before moving back to Seattle in 1992.

Influenced by his mother’s Gaelic roots,  he began teaching himself Irish and Scottish tunes on the flute and penny-whistle. His flute playing and singing of traditional songs caught the attention of those following the Northwest Celtic music scene.

He has performed around the world with the Paperboys, Casey Neill and with an all-star tribute to The Pogues. He has played with the Seattle Symphony, the University of Washington Wind Ensemble and is featured on more than a dozen recordings and soundtracks, from feature films and documentaries to popular video games.

Advance tickets are $20, and are available by contacting info@islandmusic.org or  by calling 780-6911.

To hear a sampling of Araki’s music, visit www.hanzaraki.com.