A few months back, we shared the news that music legend Ryuichi Sakamoto will be holding his last concert for 2020 as an online live-streamed event. On 12 December, he will be teaming up with the multimedia art powerhouse Rhizomatiks for the concert titled ‘Ryuichi Sakamoto: Playing the Piano 12122020’, which aims to bring a new experience to live-streamed concerts. Today, Ryuichi Sakamoto also made the announcement that he will also be debuting a brand-new song at the event! This is something truly magical, as you will have the opportunity to be one of the first people in the world to hear a brand-new Sakamoto track.
The live stream will be taking place on MUSIC/SLASH, a video streaming platform that boasts the highest sound quality possible in the industry when it comes to video streaming. Ryuichi Sakamoto said, ‘It has finally become possible to livestream with audio quality that would have been unimaginable until recently. This will be my first solo concert using this new technology. I am excited to share this delicately detailed and nuanced sound with all of you.’ This is a good thing as anyone who has heard Ryuichi Sakamoto’s music before knows that his music isn’t something you listen to, it’s something you experience. The multimedia group Rhizomatiks focuses on the relationship between analog and digital, real and virtual, for works of design, art, and entertainment, led by visionary artist Daito Manabe. They will work with rising New York-based artist duo Zakkubalan to deliver a challenging visual project that brings the worlds of Sakamoto and Rhizomatiks to vivid life.
Tickets for ‘Ryuichi Sakamoto: Playing the Piano 12122020’ livestream are on sale now until 7 December. Initially, the event was only going to be available in Japan, USA, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, Canada, and Australia, but today, they announced that they are adding Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. The addition of more countries is always a good thing. As announced previously, tickets are available online and will cost ¥5,000 before tax.