Steven Casano is a licensed teacher and active performer of the shakuhachi. His teachers include Robert Herr & Riley Lee in Hawai’i and Ishikawa Toshimitsu in Japan. Steven has also taken lessons directly from Yokoyama Katsuya, Furuya Teruo, John Kaizan Neptune, and Zenyoji Keisuke. A recipient of the Japanese Ministry of Education Scholarship, Steven conducted extensive research on the history of the shakuhachi under the renowned scholar Tsukitani Tsuneko (Osaka Shakuhachi Kenkyūkai ), while a graduate research student at Osaka University. Steven received his Jun Shihan license from Yokoyama Katsuya & Ishikawa Toshimitsu, his Shihan license and the name Taizen 泰然 from Grandmaster Riley Lee and in 2024 was granted a Dai-Shihan and the name Kōchiku 光竹. Steven has released two studio recordings, "The Voice of Bamboo” and “San Kyorei-Sacred Music for Shakuhachi.’”