Ron Sakamoto keeping the music playing
By Al Beeber on March 13, 2021.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com The COVID-19 pandemic silenced the world of live concert performances but Lethbridge concert promotor Ron Sakamoto has still found a way to keep the music playing.Sakamoto, owner of Gold and Gold Productions and Sakamoto Agency, and his roster of 23 artists have been staging live-streamed shows in nursing facilities across the country bringing a bit of joy to the lives of seniors isolated from their families.
Sakamoto himself, who jokingly says he only leaves his house to forage for food, knows how tough isolation can be.
So he has found a way to help the elderly from coast to coast as thanks for the role they played in nurturing generations of Canadians.
“As far as I am concerned this project to get live performances from our artists from Sakamoto Agencies across Canada and into senior homes is something near and dear for all our artists as they all have mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers who have nurtured them as they grew up. Not only them, but Canada, as our seniors are the backbone of building our country,” said Sakamoto Wednesday.
“We have 23 artists on our roster and our vice-president Paul Biro from Kelowna and Joelle May from our office in Vancouver are looking after this project. We all feel that seniors should be revered, not forgotten, so it’s a privilege to be able to take their mind off of the COVID virus and even for just a little while enjoy a concert and music to take their mind off of being shut in. Because of COVID, we all do it free for all homes across Canada.”
Sakamoto’s artists have performed six concerts at Edith Cavell Care Centre in the city and have another one planned.
May said the company’s artists have so far performed 175 live-streamed events across the country.
The initiative, said Sakamoto, started in Medicine Hat. A seniors home there contacted the company and the project picked up steam from there.
“We go right across Canada,” said Sakamoto, whose artists have performed events for facilities in communities as diverse as Bow Island and Toronto.
“We’re giving back as much as we can even though we aren’t making any money,” added Sakamoto.
“This is near and dear to all our artists.”
Those artists include the likes of The Washboard Union along with Duane Steel, Aaron Goodvin, the Chris Buck Band, Bobby Wills and Nice Horse.
“There are hundreds of homes across Canada and we’re the only ones doing this.”
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