A nationwide tour featuring live performances of signature works by the late Ryuichi Sakamoto (1952-2023), the acclaimed film composer, will run through the end of the year.
Nothing But Chill, the concert promoter, said on the 18th that the "Ryuichi Sakamoto Tribute" concert will open in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on the 31st and travel to major venues across the country through December.
Conductor and pianist Han Joo-heon serves as music director. Han, a former resident conductor at the Landestheater Linz in Austria, will perform alongside Joo Yeon-sun, a professor at Chung-Ang University and former principal cellist of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and Joo Yeon-kyung, associate principal second chair of the orchestra's first violin section, in new readings of Sakamoto's works.
Sakamoto built a distinctive musical world spanning electronic music, classical composition and film scores. He helped drive the development of electronic pop through Yellow Magic Orchestra (Y.M.O.) in the 1980s, then drew international attention as a film composer with his score for the 1983 film "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence." In 1989, he became the first Asian composer to win the Academy Award for best original score, for "The Last Emperor." He later won Grammy and Golden Globe awards, leaving a lasting mark on the history of film music.
His collaborations with Korean cinema also stand out. In 2017, while undergoing cancer treatment, he worked on the score for director Hwang Dong-hyuk's film "The Fortress," giving musical expression to the work's somber tone. Those melodies, familiar to Korean audiences, will be heard on stage once again at these concerts.
The program comprises 17 pieces, including signature works such as "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence," "The Last Emperor," "Rain," "Opus" and "Aqua," along with newly added selections. The lineup is expected to offer a broad view of the musical language Sakamoto developed across genre boundaries.
The tour opens on the 31st at the Aram Music Hall of Goyang Aram Nuri, then moves to the Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul on Dec. 14 and the Seongnam Arts Center Concert Hall on Dec. 23.