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RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: 1996

Ryuichi Sakamoto was a composer of breathtaking range—an artist who scored the emotions of entire generations. In this powerful live tribute, the Bang on a Can All-Stars breathe new life into Sakamoto’s iconic 1996 album. With arrangements by Ken Thomson, the ensemble reimagines selections from some of his most unforgettable works, including The Sheltering Sky, Wuthering Heights, and more.

This is a celebration of legacy—a chance to experience Sakamoto’s music, while the All-Stars honor a visionary whose compositions were intimate, filled with melancholy, and achingly beautiful.

Founded in 1987 by composers Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, Bang on a Can has been creating an international community dedicated to innovative music, wherever it is found, and has grown from a one-day New York-based Marathon concert to a multi-faceted performing arts organization with a broad range of year-round international activities.Projects include the annual LONG PLAY (Brooklyn) and LOUD Weekend (MASS MoCA) festivals; the Bang on a Can All-Stars, who tour to major festivals and concert venues around the world every year; recording projects; the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA, a professional development program for young composers and performers led by today’s pioneers of experimental music; Asphalt Orchestra, Bang on a Can’s extreme street band that offers mobile performances re-contextualizing unusual music; OneBeat, an acclaimed exchange program for American and International musicians; cross-disciplinary collaborations and projects with DJs, visual artists, choreographers, filmmakers and more. Bang on a Can has also launched an extensive public digital archive, CANLAND (www.canland.org), including recordings, videos, posters, program books, and more. Each new program has evolved to answer specific challenges faced by today’s musicians, composers and audiences, in order to make innovative music widely accessible and wildly received. Bang on a Can’s inventive and aggressive approach to programming and presentation has created a large and vibrant international audience made up of people of all ages who are rediscovering the value of contemporary music.

Sponsored by Judith Bachner and Eric Lasley