Ryuichi Sakamoto To Kick Off Tour In Japan

Ryuichi Sakamoto kicks of his Playing the Piano 2009 Japan Tour with three shows at Tokyo's International Forum. All told Sakamoto will play 22 dates in Japan; performing pieces that span his career with two pianos. As previously announced, recordings of the Japanese Tour will be available for sale in the iTunes Music Store within 24 hours of each performance, the first time in the world this service has been offered by iTunes.

Ryuichi Sakamoto will be aided by longtime collaborator Fernando Aponte who will be in charge of on-the-fly recording, mixing and mastering of the live music at each performance before uploading to iTunes. Due to the unpredictable nature of such a live undertaking - and the fact that nothing like this has ever been done with iTunes - Aponte must run through a series of steps to ensure each recording goes off without a hitch.

For iTunes, Aponte will be mixing live to stereo as well as recording. In a normal studio mixing environment Aponte would have the chance to rewind the music many times and listen until the music sounds perfect. Due to timing, Aponte can't record and mix separately, so he will have to do both simultaneously and hope to get it right in that one shot. After recording/mixing, Aponte then plans to rush back to his hotel and start mastering the entire show. Since the idea is to get the music up on iTunes within 24 hours of each show, Aponte will be working within an extremely tight time frame. This will be the procedure on every stop of the tour.

Full Tour Itinerary:

• March 18, 19, 20  Tokyo International Forum Hall C Tokyo, Japan Tickets: 03-5436-9600
• March 22 Alti Art Live Theatre International Kyoto, Japan Tickets: 06-7732-8888
• March 24 Kochi City Culture - Plaza Cul-Port Kochi, Japan Tickets: 088-822-4488
• March 25 Okayama Symphony Hall Okayama, Japan Tickets: 086-221-8151
• March 27, 28 Sankei Hall Breeze Osaka, Japan Tickets: 06-7732-8888
• March 30 Tondabayashi Subaru Hall Osaka, Japan Tickets: 0721-26-2060
• April 1 Rose Theater Shizuoka, Japan Tickets: 0545-60-2500
• April 2 Aichi Prefectural Art Theater Aichi, Japan Tickets: 052-320-9100
• April 4 Hiroshima Alsok Hall Hiroshima, Japan Tickets: 082-249-8334
• April 5 Fukuoka Sunpalace Fukuoka, Japan Tickets: 092-714-0159
• April 7 Nagasaki Koukaido Nagasaki, Japan Tickets: 092-714-0159
• April 9 Tajimi Culture Hall Gifu, Japan Tickets: 0572-23-2600
• April 11 Matsumoto Performing Arts Center Nagano, Japan Tickets: 025-245-5100
• April 15 Niigata Prefectural Civic Center Niigata, Japan Tickets: 025-245-5100
• April 17 Aubade Hall Toyama, Japan Tickets: 025-245-5100
• April 19 Sapporo Concert Hall Kitara Sapporo, Japan Tickets: 011-614-9999
• April 23 Green Hall Sagamiohno Kanagawa, Japan Tickets: 042-742-9999
• April 24 Kawaguchi Lilia Hal Saitama, Japan Tickets:03-5436-9600
• April 25 Sendai Civic Centre Miyagi, Japan Tickets:022-296-8888