Riley Lee (Shakuhachi) and Cliona Molins (Harp)

Riley and Clíona have been performing together since 2012. They combine their unique knowledge of two ancient instruments from distinct cultural backgrounds. Since performing at the 2022 National Folk Festival in Canberra, Clíona and Riley recorded their second album Golden Kelp in 2023.

Their recent Golden Kelp video brings awareness to the Great Southern Reef with a pledge made to the Kelp Forest Alliance.

This album of soundscapes and Irish airs follows the success of their previous EP, Snow Flurries.

Fitzroy (National Folk Festival 2022, Canberra)

RILEY LEE

Riley Lee’s music is meditation. Riley is the recipient of two of the oldest and most venerated lineages of traditional shakuhachi, which can be traced back to the Zen Buddhist komusô, or “priests of nothingness” of the Edo period in Japan.

In 1980, he became the first non-Japanese to attain the rank of dai shihan or Grand Master. Riley completed his BA and MA degrees in music at the University of Hawai’i, and received his PhD degree in ethnomusicology from the University of Sydney.   In 1995, Riley also co-founded with Ian Cleworth, Australia’s dynamic Japanese festival drum group, TaikOz which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Riley has recorded over 36 CDs and DVDs.  

Song of the Phoenix

Celebrating our
human spirit's capacity
to recover
after great adversity.

A short excerpt from
a live performance of
She Moved through the Fair,
Winter Concert Series 2017