Cornelius Boots
shakuhachi, Taimu (bass shakuhachi) & composition

Founder/composer of Black Earth Shakuhachi School, Cornelius Boots has forged his own eclectic style as a professional woodwind performer since 1989. A three-time graduate of Jacobs School of Music and licensed shihan (master) in the dynamic shakuhachi lineage of Watazumido, Boots has played international festivals in Montreux, Chicago, Assisi, Prague, London and Xalapa and released 16 albums.

First Prize winner of the 2013 International Clarinet Composition Competition, Boots has also received commissions and awards from Chamber Music America, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Areon Flutes, International Songwriting Competition and Meet the Composer. He has primarily contributed to the repertoire and evolution of certain woodwinds, first bass clarinet (1994-2015), and now shakuhachi (2001-present).

In 2019, his new ensemble—The Heavy Roots Shakuhachi Ensemble—debuted at SF Music Day in the Veteran's War Memorial, premiering new original compositions. Boots’ experience as a jazz saxophonist, orchestral clarinetist, funk bandleader and founder/composer of the renowned bass clarinet quartet Edmund Welles have made him a sought after composer and collaborator for bold woodwind soloists, rock and chamber groups.