Ryuichi Sakamoto. Photo: courtesy of Kuaishou

Renowned Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto will take part in an online concert released on a Chinese streaming platform along with eight other musicians, who will communicate with each other through music even though they are all in different places.

The concert is being held to bring more enjoyment and art experiences to the public since the current COVID-19 outbreak has put a damper on opportunities to appreciate masterpieces by these great musicians at concert halls.

Sakamoto is well known in China for composing the theme music for the film The Last Emperor. The film-score composer has won an Oscar, a BAFTA, a Grammy and two Golden Globe Awards.

The three-and-a-half-hour-long online concert is scheduled to air on Saturday on Kuaishou, a Chinese short video platform with more than 300 million daily active users. 

The nine musicians taking part in the concert will perform from different cities around the world, such as Sakamoto in New York and Chinese musician Pang Kuan in Beijing. They will perform in a relay through live streaming.

Although they speak different languages and excel at different music styles, including Chinese folk music played with traditional instruments, they will be able to communicate with each other through the international language of music, Kuaishou said in a statement.

The concert will focus on improvisation, so some musicians will perform impromptu songs during the concert that will be inspired by the performances of the other musicians.

"Online concerts offer more opportunities for those who cannot go to traditional venues to experience beautiful music," Fan Zhihui, a music industry analyst, told the Global Times on Thursday.

The online performance will get more musicians and artists thinking about what value online communication and activities can bring and therefore add more novel types of performances to the industry, he added.

Amid the spread of the deadly virus, lots of Chinese people have had to stay at home with little to do. Fan noted that this concert will be a good opportunity to change things up. 

Other art forms such as musical dramas and exhibitions have also been getting a foot in the door on streaming platforms.

More than 2 million Chinese netizens enjoyed a tour of the British Museum from the comfort of their homes through a 90-minute livestream on the "Museums are fun" channel of the short video platform on February 16.