Halifax’s Upstream Music Association returns with the 2025 edition of the Open Waters Festival, a celebration of new and improvised music from January 8 to 12, 2025.
[Open Waters is] a plunge into surging headwaters of creativity, with music that’s as fresh and exhilarating as the new year. – Lukas Pearse
“Open Waters Festival celebrates the flow of new and improvised music from varied sources,” says artistic director Lukas Pearse. “It’s a plunge into surging headwaters of creativity, with music that’s as fresh and exhilarating as the new year.”
The festival begins on January 8 at the Joseph Strug Concert Hall. The Fountain School of Performing Arts (FSPA) New Music Ensemble will open the evening, followed by E27 Musique Nouvelles from Quebec performing Chance Variations. This unique piece, shaped by chance operations and melodic repetition, sets the tone for the weekend. The night wraps up with a reception for musicians and patrons.
Symphony Nova Scotia takes center stage on January 9, delivering an evening featuring world premieres from celebrated and emerging composers. Highlights include Tim Brady’s electric guitar concerto, performed by jazz guitarist Geordie Haley, new works by Halifax composers Jeremie Boudreau and Shanti Sivarulrasa and the orchestral debut of James Shaw, recipient of the 2024 Paul Cram Creation Award. Juno Award-winning composers Nicole Lizée and Jocelyn Morlock and rising Blackfoot composer Sonny-Ray Day Rider further enhance the program.
The festival’s diversity shines across Friday and Saturday with performances by The Tom Roach Ensemble, Constant/Crofts, Sahara Jane and Ken Shorley on January 10 and pianist Jennifer King, new chamber works from FSPA composition students, and a triple bill featuring Nadia Francavilla, Norm Adams, and Olivia Shortt, capped by the Dan Pitt Quintet and Arrest The Crown.
The festival concludes on January 12 with performances of Sam Wilson’s solo guitar works, Open Borders, Many Worlds, and Champagne Weather.
The 2025 Open Waters Festival takes place January 8-12, 2025, at the Strug Concert Hall and The Stage at St. Andrew’s. Visit upstreammusic.org for tickets and information.