Due to Popular Demand Japan Society Adds Additional Date for JOHN CAGE'S RYOANJI

Due to popular demand, Japan Society has announced an additional date added for their Ryoanji concert, part of the ongoing John Cage's Japan series. The October 21 8:30pm performance is now completely sold out but limited tickets remain for the Sunday, October 22 matinee at 2:00pm.

Inspired by the Zen rock garden of the renowned Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto, which John Cage personally visited in 1962, Cage's composition Ryoanji (1983-1985) was constructed using non-ordinal graphical notation. Embracing Cage's free-spirited approach to the score, composer/musician/vocal performer Tomomi Adachi brings this composition to life in a cutting-edge concert that connects two cities remotely. New York's International Contemporary Ensemble - including Michael Lormand (trombone), Lizzie Burns (double bass) and Clara Warnaar (percussion) - will perform alongside two musicians - Hitomi Nakamura on the ancient gagaku wind instrument hichiriki and Maki Ota on vocals – streaming from a tea house in Kanazawa City, Japan.

As a captivating backdrop for this one-of-a-kind concert, the first half of the work will be accompanied by a projection of hypnotic and musically interactive 3-D animations created by Dr. Tsutomu Fujinami, a researcher at the prestigious Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. These procedurally generated images, depicting the raked sand of a Zen garden, will then be replayed and repurposed to serve as the musicians' graphical score for the remainder of the performance. Adachi's fresh take on Ryoanji's score offers an expression of creative ignition at the intersection of innovation and art. This event bears homage to both Cage's everlasting curiosity and his penchant for incorporating new technology into music.

A lecture on the origins of John Cage's fascination with Japanese culture, led by Cage scholar Dr. James Pritchett, will follow the matinee and precede the October 21 concert.

Ryoanji continues Japan Society's multi-month celebration of the special relationship between the iconoclastic American composer John Cage and the country of Japan. When Cage first toured Japan in 1962, the resulting series of concerts served to draw attention to the rhymes between his works and the sounds of avant-garde and classical Japanese music, cementing him as a pivotal artistic figure in the East and reinforcing many of Cage's creative impulses. Cage would continue to visit and perform in Japan multiple times throughout his life. Indeed, as Japan Society's Artistic Director Yoko Shioya boldly posits, "If John Cage had not encountered Japanese culture, there would have been no John Cage!" In support of this assertion, Japan Society presents John Cage's Japan, an original series of Cage-centric programming scheduled to take place this fall and winter at the Japan Society auditorium at 333 East 47th Street.

Following Ryoanji, John Cage's Japan continues with more innovative concerts curated by the composer, musician and internationally-recognized Cage expert Tomomi Adachi, in collaboration with New York's own International Contemporary Ensemble, America's leading ensemble for new instrumental work. Additional programs on November 16 and December 7 will each feature unique programming and acclaimed international guest performers, including Broadway vocalist and avant-garde composer Gelsey Bell, Noh actor Wakako Matsuda, and experimental sound artists Tania Caroline Chen and Victoria Shen. Program details and lineup are subject to change.

Tickets for Cage Shuffle and all John Cage's Japan performances are on sale now. Visit japansociety.org/performing-arts for ticket links and more information.

Tomomi Adachi, Yoko Shioya and James Pritchett (a leading Cage scholar) are all available for interviews in service of a feature article on the project.