Nijmegen /// HandPan Workshop & Concert - REO MATSUMOTO

About this event

November asks you to turn inward, and this instrument is good company for that. Low light, a small group, a warm sound — it is my favourite month to teach in.

Two hours, and a sound you didn't know you had

You sit down, the handpan rests on your knees, and the first note you play is already a beautiful one. That is the gift of this instrument — you don't have to earn the sound. It is there from the first touch. From there we go slowly, and by the end of the morning we are playing together.

What you will learn

- How to strike so a note opens instead of closing — the difference is in the hand, not in the strength
- Your first rhythm and your first short melody, from nothing
- Simple phrase and rhythm exercises you can keep playing at home
- How to play together with others, without anyone having to count

What you feel, and what grows

Striking a handpan with your bare hands settles the body — most people notice it in the first twenty minutes, long before they can play anything. The rest builds with repetition: each time you come back, the phrase that resisted you last time plays itself, and you find you are listening rather than trying. That growth is what turns one morning into something you keep doing.

And in the afternoon, a concert

After the workshop I stay and play. At 14:30 there is a concert in the same room — an hour of live handpan, open to everyone, on donation. You are warmly welcome to stay, and to bring anyone you like.

Instruments

A handpan is waiting for you. There is one ready for every place, so you can come with empty hands and simply play.

One small thing, from me to you: if you already have your own handpan, please bring it along if you can. Carrying eight pans across the country by train is quite an adventure, and every instrument that arrives in its owner's arms makes that journey much lighter for me. I would be truly grateful. And there is something lovely about playing the pan that already knows your hands.

Timetable

10:45 Doors open, tea, and choosing your instrument
11:00 We begin — how you sit, where the hands go, your first notes
11:30 Rhythm and phrase exercises
12:10 Melody — dynamics and waves
12:40 We play together
13:00 Workshop finishes
14:30 Concert — one hour of live handpan, on donation
15:30 End

Practical information

Who? Anyone who would like to play the handpan — whether you have never
touched one, or tried it once.
When? Thursday, November 26 2026, 11:00 to 13:00 (doors open at 10:45)
Concert the same day, 14:30 to 15:30 — on donation, everyone welcome.
Where? The Goddess Rock Temple | Molenstraat 26, 6511 HE Nijmegen
Cost? €66 per person, handpan included. Maximum 8 people.

Places are limited, so book early if you can.

About me

I'm Reo, from Japan, living and playing here in the Netherlands. I won the Japanese Beatbox Championship in 2011, then left home with thirty dollars in my pocket to play on streets around the world. Somewhere on that road I met the handpan and never put it down. Eleven years later I organise the Tokyo Handpan Festival, have taught more than 500 students, and in 2026 I am a guest instructor at Pan Paradise here in Europe.

What matters more is what happens in the room: I listen for what you already do well, and build from there. Nobody is corrected in front of the group. Everybody plays. Coming to a morning like this is also what keeps this work alive — thank you for that.

Supported by

Ayasa Instruments · MAG Instruments · Root Harmonics · Selected HandPan · HandPan Studio · Yishama

I play and teach on instruments from these makers. If you are ever looking for a pan of your own, just ask — I'll tell you honestly what suits your hands.

Any question before booking, just send me a message. I answer them all myself.