Vancouver New Music

09/01/2026

Read about our new season at Stir Vancouver!

Japan’s Kuniko Kato Quartet opens the lineup as part of the VNM Festival: Open Frequencies, performing the music of Steve Reich

09/01/2026

Our new season is here! Tickets on sale now: https://www.newmusic.org/

SEASON SCHEDULE

VNM Festival: Open Frequencies
October 22 - 24, 2026
Featuring renowned percussionist Kuniko Kato (Japan) leading a virtuosic quartet performance with Haruka Aoyagi, Karin Tozaki, Koichi Hosono, and Misaki Matsuno dedicated to the music of Steve Reich; cellist and composer Okkyung Lee (Korea); vocalist and sound artist Nadah El Shazly (Egypt/Montreal) with harpist Sarah Pagé (Montreal); and BC artists Meredith Bates (Salt Spring Island) and Piu (Nanaimo).

One-Page Score Project: Plastic Acid Orchestra
January 23, 2027
VNM’s popular One-Page Score Project returns! This dynamic initiative invites community members to create their own scores using graphic notation, which will then be performed by Plastic Acid Orchestra.

Charmaine Lee (Australia/USA)
x/o (Vancouver)
February 20, 2027
Vocalist and improviser Charmaine Lee brings her distinctive approach to voice and live electronics, crafting intricate, spontaneous sonic environments. Opening the evening, Vancouver-based x/o (Veron Xio) explores parallel terrain through voice and electronic processing, creating a dialogue of experimental vocal practices.

PARALLEL 08: Miyama McQueen-Tokita (Australia/Japan)
March 20, 2027
Miyama McQueen-Tokita leads Both and Neither, a multi-day project for the eighth installment of our PARALLELS series that will culminate in a live performance at the ANNEX. Combining koto and an ensemble of local vocalists from the Nikkei community, this project emphasizes collaboration, cultural exchange, and process-based creation unfolding through workshops, rehearsals, and a final performance.

Olivia Block (USA)
Angelique Po (Vancouver)
April 24, 2027
Sound artist Olivia Block presents a rare pipe organ performance, exploring the instrument’s vast acoustic and spatial possibilities through subtle textures and sustained tones, while organist, pianist, and continuo player Angelique Po offers a complementary set showcasing her virtuosity in a performance of the legendary Greek-French composer and architect Iannis Xenakis' only work for organ.

07/23/2026

Watch some of the amazing performances from our last season on our YouTube and Vimeo channels!

We have a very exciting new season coming up. Season launch and tickets on sale Sep 1

Sign up to our newsletter to keep up-to-date. Link in bio

📷 Celso Machado, photo Fran

05/15/2026

Scenes from A Voynich Manifesto at the ANNEX (May 9, 2026)

Featuring Terri Hron, SJ Kirsch, Viviane Houle, Mind of a Snail

Sign up to our newsletter at newmusic.org!

📷 Francis Magbanua

05/14/2026

Scenes from A Voynich Manifesto (May 9, 2026)

Featuring Terri Hron, SJ Kirsch, Viviane Houle, Mind of a Snail

Sign up to our newsletter at newmusic.org!

📷 Francis Magbanua

05/14/2026

Visually and sonically enchanting, A Voynich Manifesto was a magical finale to our season!

Like the medieval manuscript that inspired this project, all elements of this performance - images, vocals, sound, storytelling - were beautiful, haunting, mysterious.

Our heartfelt thanks to the talented artists 💚: Terri Hron, SJ Kirsch, Viviane Houle and Mind of a Snail

We have an exciting new season coming up in the fall and look forward to seeing you all then! Sign up to our newsletter to keep up to date: visit newmusic.org

📷 by Francis Magbanua

05/12/2026

Vancouver New Music’s 2026-27 season gathers a remarkable group of artists from across the world - Japan, Korea, Egypt, Australia, US, Canada - each with a distinct cultural identity and singular instrumental voice. In their unique ways, they explore experimental performance practices at the intersection of acoustic and electronic sound.

Tickets on sale September 1! Visit https://www.newmusic.org/

Our exciting new season launches with the highly anticipated opening night of this year's VNM Festival, Open Frequencies (Oct 22-24) featuring Kuniko Kato Quartet (Japan) performing a program celebrating Steve Reich’s 90th birthday. The program will showcase Reich’s complex and beautiful percussion compositions in new adaptations specially curated by Kato with Reich. The evening will also be dedicated to Frances McGrath in honour of her legacy gift. The rest of this three-day festival will present internationally acclaimed and emerging artists working at the forefront of experimental, interdisciplinary, and cross-cultural sound practices: cellist Okkyung Lee (Korea), vocalist and sound artist Nadah El Shazly (Egypt/Montreal) with harpist Sarah Pagé (Montreal), and BC artists Meredith Bates (Salt Spring Island) and Piu (Nanaimo).

This season also marks the return of the One Page Score Project, our popular series that invites community members to create graphic scores that will then be performed by Plastic Acid Orchestra (Jan 23).

Other season highlights include vocalist Charmaine Lee (Australia/USA) and interdisciplinary artist x/o (Vancouver) (Feb 20), the eighth instalment of our community-focused PARALLELS series with koto player Miyama McQueen-Tokita (Australia/Japan) (Mar 20), and sound artist Olivia Block (USA) and organist Angelique Po (Vancouver) performing on the city’s largest pipe organ (Apr 24).

05/09/2026

A Voynich Manifesto will be revealed tonight! Tickets at link in bio or at the door

A Voynich Manifesto
Sat May 9 | 8pm
Doors 7pm
ANNEX (823 Seymour St)

Post-show Artist Talk

Featuring shadow puppet theatre duo Mind of a Snail and vocalists SJ Kirsch and Viviane Houle with curator Terri Hron

05/09/2026

Gorgeous visuals coming out of rehearsals for tonight’s performance of A Voynich Manifesto!!

Closing out our season and the final instalment of our On Curation Mentorship Project, this collaborative, improvisational performance explores the mysteries of the undeciphered medieval Voynich Manuscript. Featuring vocalists Viviane Houle and SJ Kirsch, shadow theatre duo Mind of a Snail, and curator Terri Hron.

Tonight! Sat May 9 @ ANNEX (823 Seymour St)

Get tickets: advance at link in bio or newmusic.org; at the door



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