Keyboardist, composer and frequent collaborator\u00a0Irmin Schmidt<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 who turns 80 in 2017 \u2013 is perhaps best known as a founding member of\u00a0Can<\/strong>, leading avant-garde rock group of the 70s, and key influencers on the development of electronic music. In this Barbican show in\u00a0Can\u2019s 50th\u00a0anniversary year<\/strong>, Schmidt will be conducting the\u00a0London Symphony Orchestra<\/strong>, presenting the\u00a0world premiere<\/strong>\u00a0of an original orchestral work composed by Irmin Schmidt<\/strong> and\u00a0Gregor Schwellenbach:\u00a0An homage to Can<\/strong>, containing quotations of some of the band\u2019s most well-known pieces. In addition Irmin Schmidt will also conduct the\u00a0world premiere<\/strong>\u00a0of the concert version of his ballet music\u00a0La Fermosa<\/strong>. The second half of the show provides a diverging experience of Can material, as realised by a specially curated rock \u201csupergroup\u201d brought together by Sonic Youth\u2019s Thurston Moore<\/strong>\u00a0featuring\u00a0Jaki Liebezeit<\/strong>, ex-Can drummer as well as Can\u2019s first singer\u00a0Malcom Mooney<\/strong>,\u00a0Steve Shelley\u00a0<\/strong>(Sonic Youth) and\u00a0James Sedwards<\/strong>\u00a0(Thurston Moore Group) plus special guests tba.<\/p>\n Can,\u00a0founded in 1967,\u00a0were at the forefront of the krautrock\u00a0movement in the late 60s and early 70s in Germany, along with bands such as Kraftwerk and Neu!; their debut album\u00a0Monster Movie\u00a0(1969) set them apart from the mainstream, carving out a sound that transcended the boundaries of experimental electronic, jazz and modern classical music.\u00a0 Can\u2019s influence extends from post-punk musicians such as Joy Division and Primal Scream, through avant-garde composers including Bernhard Lang, to Radiohead\u2019s early 00s output.\u00a0 Schmidt himself began his musical career as a pupil of Stockhausen\u00a0and\u00a0Ligeti, and conducted numerous high-profile orchestras in his native Germany and abroad. Hearing the sounds of Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa in the 60s led to the formation of Can but Schmidt never lost touch with his\u00a0avant-garde classical upbringing, and it is to Schmidt that Can owed much of its musical eclecticism. To celebrate Can\u2019s 50th anniversary in October 2017, Faber & Faber are publishing a new book devoted to Can. The coffee table special edition will come in two volumes, one will be the first complete, authorised biography of the band written by\u00a0Rob Young<\/strong>\u00a0and the second a collage of thoughts, visuals and interviews written and collated by Irmin Schmidt and\u00a0Max Dax<\/strong>. The Barbican Can Project show will be preceded by a Q&A with Rob Young who will also read from his book. During an extended interval there will be a screening of Can\u2019s 1972 live performance at the Cologne Sporthalle.<\/p>\n Produced by the Barbican Supported by the Goethe-Institut London \u00a0\u00a0 On sale to Barbican Members on Thursday 10 November\u00a0 \u00a0 On general sale on\u00a0Friday 11 November<\/p>\n