Ryuichi Sakamoto's virtual reality concert 'Kagami' premieres in Italy

The mixed reality concert 'Kagami' by the late Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who died in 2023 and was a pioneer of electronic music as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra, will be presented for the first time in Italy from August 30 to September 12, 2024, at the renovated Auditorium Scavolini in Pesaro, as part of Pesaro Italian Capital of Culture 2024. The work, conceived between 2019 and 2020 during the pandemic when Sakamoto decided to record concerts for online sharing, premiered at The Shed in New York in 2023, two months after his death, and has since traveled to Manchester, Taipei, and London. 'Kagami' (Japanese for 'mirror') blends Sakamoto's music with moving 3D images, exploring memory, identity, and time. It was created by Sakamoto with Todd Eckert, founder of the New York collective Tin Drum, who had long admired Sakamoto and collaborated with him on the mixed reality technology. Eckert previously worked with Marina Abramović on the immersive installation 'The Life.' The Guardian called it 'a revolutionary experience' at its European debut. The Auditorium Scavolini, formerly a sports hall and site of Scavolini Pesaro's 1988 basketball championship, will host three daily shows.