Second Annual Sound Atlas Music Festival Set For June

Latitude 49 and Land's End Ensemble will co-present the second annual contemporary music festival, Sound Atlas Music Festival, from June 27 -  June 29, 2024, at Contemporary Calgary. Celebrating works by living composers and extraordinary performances by local and international sound artists, Sound Atlas Music Festival will feature an eclectic and diverse range of musical styles, with a little something for everyone. 

“This year's Sound Atlas Festival 2024 will turn Calgary into a new music mecca for the last weekend of June, and will build on the incredible success of 2023's inaugural year,” said Jani Parsons, co-director of Sound Atlas Music Festival and Executive Director of Latitude 49. “We have assembled a world class artist lineup featuring some of today's most exciting compositional voices. Come out and explore new sounds with us, grab a drink and some sonic exploration, and be part of a transformative experience that is Sound Atlas Festival!”

Over the three days, Sound Atlas Festival takes listeners on a powerful journey of expression, moving freely to challenge, delight and engage, while highlighting featured composer Jared Miller. Each day will feature multiple concert events and pop-up style performances with our Contemporary Performance Lab fellows, in a sonic feast for the culturally curious. 

 

“I'm so incredibly excited for Sound Atlas Volume 2! The lineup this year is amazing and we have such an incredible community behind this festival including local heroes from across the scene, as well as talent coming in from afar to help us celebrate living music in Calgary,” said Chris Sies, co-director of Sound Atlas Music Festival and Calgary-based percussionist.

 

Day One - Thursday, June 27, 2024, 7 p.m.

Featured Festival Artists: Latitude 49, Parker Ramsay (solo harp set) and Land's End Ensemble

 

Day One kicks off the 2024 Sound Atlas Festival with three distinct and remarkable acts. New music powerhouse band Latitude 49 kicks it off with Marc Mellits' funky “Blackitude” heard for the first time in Canada, a feature performance by the Contemporary Performance Lab fellows of Sarah Kirkland Snider's “You Are Free” and the world premiere of Canadian composer Evan Ware's “Checking Out”. 

 

Parker Ramsay will defy expectations in his solo set for harp and electronics featuring music by Tom Morrison. Finally, Calgary's own JUNO-nominated Land's End Ensemble will present an infectious trio by Mason Bates and a special performance of featured composer Jared Miller's “Leviathan”.    

 

Day Two - Friday, June 28, 2024, 7 p.m.

 

Featured Festival Artists: Chris Sies (solo percussion set), Latitude 49 and Bug Incision presents Circular Sparrow

 

Day Two of Sound Atlas traverses the ever-changing horizon of contemporary music where genres blur and mingle in electro-acoustic bliss, featuring three distinct and adventurous acts. Chris Sies presents two Canadian premieres including an epic new work for percussion and electronics titled “Saturn Still Returning” by Broxson and the gentle unfolding tones of Karina Howey's “the only stars i see are from vertigo”. 

 

Latitude 49 presents Tom Morrison's pulsating “Memory and Material”, the Canadian premiere of “Glass House” by Kevin Day, and concluding with Jared Miller's “Fuse”, an audacious work that fuses together Latitude 49 and members of Land's End Ensemble into a supergroup. Day Two will conclude with an experimental sound exploration of improvisation by Calgary's own Circular Sparrow, presented by Bug Incision and led by composer/percussionist Chris Dadge.

 

Day Three - Saturday, June 29, 2024, 3 p.m.

 

Featured Festival Artists: Adam Zinatelli (trumpet) and Akiko Tominaga (piano), Nick Zoulek (solo saxophone set) and Latitude 49 with Parker Ramsay (harp)

 

Day Three will be a dynamic redefining of what is possible through contemporary performance art. Adam Zinatelli and Akiko Tominaga present Dorothy Chang's effervescent “All That Glitters” as well as a new work by Calgary-based composer Arthur M. Bachmann that will receive its Canadian premiere. 

 

The singular composer, media artist, and saxophonist Nick Zoulek will present a solo set that is sure to defy expectations. The Sound Atlas Festival's 2024 journey concludes with a landmark work “Petroushskates” by legendary composer Joan Tower and the world premiere of Jared Miller's new work for Latitude 49 featuring harpist Parker Ramsay. An end-of-festival celebration will immediately follow in the Atrium.

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