June 6 – 14, 2025
Look.
Listen.
Experience.
Here comes the one-and-only Now Hear This Festival! This year we’re bringing together new opera, avant-jazz, contemporary dance, free improvisation, chamber music, spectacular multi-media performances, and more. With work that is challenging and profound, the festival is a brilliant, creative celebration of the diverse artists and sound-based practices for which our city is known!
The first weekend kicks off Friday June 6 with an explosive evening of improvised music led by idiosyncratic drummer Ron de Jong. On Saturday June 7 we have a multimedia opera, Out Loud! created by guests Terri Hron, Helen Pridmore, and Jennifer Beattie, with live electronics, and a chorus of local improvisers. Sunday June 8, brings a retrospective concert of chamber music and premieres by one of the great musical personalities of our city, George Andrix, with some of his favourite groups, bok brass, WindRose Trio, and The Strathcona String Quartet.
Our second weekend brings a heady double header on Friday and Saturday, as we feature, Here-Hearing, two triple bills of performances by Amiskwaciy-wâskahikan (Edmonton) artists. These shows are bound to surprise and excite all who attend, with risky, brilliant work including new guitar music, electronic music, dance, multimedia, harp and electronics, and… a whole bunch of tvs, telephones, toys, and more!
Conveniently scheduled over two weekends, the festival schedule is relaxed, and it’s easy to take in all of the shows, so grab a pass, and come join us for this great start to the summer solstice season!
O.N.C.E. More with…Ron de Jong
Friday, June 6, 7:30 pm
Mile Zero Dance
9931- 78 Avenue NW, Edmonton
Featuring Ron de Jong – drums, cymbals, percussion, and field audio samples; Thom Golub – Upright bass; Kelly Ruth – contact mics on spinning wheels; Jacob Tran – Alto Saxophone
New Music Edmonton’s Now Hear This 2025 opens with an explosive evening of improvised music. Led by the idiosyncratic drummer Ron de Jong, a handpicked crew of diverse, virtuosic artists from our city will come together for an unforgettable, and unrepeatable, exploration of unrehearsed, sonic improvisation. You will definitely be treated to sounds, textures, and a richly varied palette of musical reactions, as these great musicians get in close, responding to each others’ inner hearing.
Expect the unexpected in this extemporaneous extravaganza!
Out Loud
Saturday, June 7, 7:30 pm
Mile Zero Dance
9931- 78 Avenue NW, Edmonton
Created and Performed by Helen Pridmore, Jennifer Beattie, and Terri Hron. Chorus members: John Bellucci, Louis Bouchier, Luna Drury, Jen Dunford, Makenna Graham, Gerry Morita, Phoenix Phillips, Nancy Sandercock, erψn temp3st, Giovanni Young.
New Music Edmonton welcomes this innovative, brilliant trio of risk-taking artists to present their original creation, Out Loud. This phenomenal multimedia experience is a two-part opera, and a contemporary feminist take on classic female characters in literature, Titania, from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Mermaid from The Little Mermaid. You may think you know these two, but in Out Loud, they are brilliantly redefined with complexity as strong leaders, with powerful connections to themselves and their ancestors. A group of community improvisers will enhance “Out Loud”, using their voices and imaginations, serving as acolytes and commenting on the action, Greek chorus style.
A George Andrix Retrospective
Sunday, June 8, 7:30 pm
Edmonton Moravian Church
9540 83 Ave NW, Edmonton
Featuring: The Strathcona String Quartet, bok brass, WindRose Trio and George Andrix
New Music Edmonton is proud to put the focus on one of the key figures in contemporary music making here in our community, George Andrix, with some of his most important collaborators. A hugely prolific and innovative composer, performer, educator, administrator, and more, George Andrix has been part of the scene here for decades. For this event, we are especially excited to bring together for the first time three amazing local ensembles who have been collaborating with George Andrix for many years. They will share some of their favourites of his works, and give the world premiere of Now Hear This combining all 12 musicians!
Here-Hearing: Marek Orszulik/Red River Resonance/Alicia Proudfoot
Friday, June 13, 7:30 pm
Mile Zero Dance
9931- 78 Avenue NW, Edmonton
Our community is absolutely teeming with amazing musicians and sound artists, and in 2025 we will give special emphasis to these amazing creatives in two nights of brilliant, and unique work. Curated primarily from an open call, these two shows in the fabulous Mile Zero Dance space are guaranteed to offer surprises and new ideas, and definitely a rich and inspiring mix of sound-oriented creativity. Classical composition, free improvisation, electronics, multimedia, and much more are all brought together in a 2-night double of brilliant local work. This 2-night series begins June 13 with Marek Orszulik; Alicia Proudfoot; Red River Resonance (Louis Bouchier and Jen Dunford).
Free Soundwalk: Listening to Ritchie with Alicia Proudfoot
Saturday, June 14, 6:00 pm
Front entrance of Mile Zero Dance
9931- 78 Avenue NW, Edmonton
During the festival, you will hear lots of sound in the Mile Zero space, but what about around it? Festival artist Alicia Proudfoot will lead participants on a 1 hour listening expedition through the soundscapes of Mile Zero’s neighbourhood. You’ll be amazed by what you can hear when you listen — if you think our city just sounds like cars and magpies, think again, and listen closer! This event requires no experience, just an interest in listening, and the mobility needed to spend an hour out and about! A bottle of water, and a hat, are highly recommended! Free event, but space is limited, and registration is recommended.
Here-Hearing: Creamy Rainbow/Soft Ions/Codyma
Saturday June 14, 7:30 pm
Mile Zero Dance
9931- 78 Avenue NW, Edmonton
Here-Hearing continues at Mile Zero June 14 with Creamy Rainbow (Andrew Thorne, Anna Wildish, and Aidan Oatway); Soft Ions (Jenna Turner and Parker Thiessen); Codyma (Cole Dorchester, Makenna Graham, and Dylan Lindsay).
