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Alberta and British Columbia
by Hal Kowalewski
Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival
The Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival, in Banff, Alta., is one of the largest off-season events in Western Canada, featuring exhibitions, film screenings, the Literary Cabaret writers’ series, and more. The organization concludes the summer with the Banff International String Quartet Festival. Additional events include the Art of Piano series, the return of the outdoor “In a Landscape” concert, a visit from renowned violinist James Ehnes, and the presentation of Tapestry Opera’s Torrent of Light, focused on the ethics of AI. www.banffcentre.ca/summer-arts-fest
ChamberFest West
Entering its fifth year, ChamberFest West in Calgary, Alta., is one of the youngest festivals on our list. Under its theme of Continental Drifts, the festival features musicians and styles from across the world. Its opening concert, aptly titled Pangaea, features African classical musician Tunde Jegede playing their own compositions; the traditional Chinese piece Ambush on All Sides; as well as works by American pianist Steve Reich and Australian composer Matthew Hindson. www.chamberfestwest.com.
Early Music Vancouver
The 2026 Early Music Vancouver (EMV) Summer Festival opens with a performance of Monteverdi’s Orfeo, which recounts the tragic myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Baritone Marc Mauillon leads the cast as Orfeo in his first performance as the organization’s 2026 artist-in-residence, accompanied by EMV’s Pacific Baroque Orchestra.
The festival brings a nontraditional approach to opera with its presentation of Bach Dances, a contemporary dance production created by opera stage director and choreographer Idan Cohen. Cohen is the artistic director of Ne.Sans Opera & Dance, known for its interdisciplinary approach to performance. www.earlymusic.bc.ca
Victoria Summer Music Festival
For its 30th anniversary, the Victoria Summer Music Festival honours its roots as a community-focused organization. The festival opens with Poiesis Quartet, winners of last year’s Banff International String Quartet Festival. In addition to Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 135, their opening concert features the work of Daniel Lasagna and Calvin Ray Shawler, two queer and BIPOC composers who were commissioned by Poiesis.
This is only the second festival after the death of longtime collaborator Gary Karr, the world-renowned American bassist whose Basses Loaded performance concluded the event for 20 years. This year, the finale will be a collaboration between violinist David Lakirovich, cellist Desmond Hoebig and pianist Arthur Rowe, who will perform Schubert’s celebratory Trio in E-flat major Op. 100 for violin, cello and piano. www.vsmf.org.
Ontario
by Gianmarco Segato
Toronto Summer Music
Running July 9 through Aug. 1, this year’s festival marks Canadian violinist William Fedkenheuer’s inaugural season as artistic director (see our interview in this issue). Highlights include the return of William Christie and Les Arts Florissants on opening night with a Charpentier program featuring Canadian singers Olivier Bergeron and Sydney Frodsham. American mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke appears on July 10 & 13, and also mentors young singers in the festival’s Art of Song program. Soprano Erin Morley (this issue’s cover artist) and tenor Lawrence Brownlee bring their widely-toured Golden Age program of opera arias and duets to Koerner Hall on July 16. Winner of the 2025 Honens competition, pianist Élisabeth Pion, solos with the festival’s orchestra on July 30. www.torontosummermusic.com
Music and Beyond
One of Canada’s premier chamber music festivals, Music and Beyond takes place in Ottawa from July 5–17. The program kicks off with vocalist Kim Richardson and Orchestre national de jazz de Montréal performing the songs of Duke Ellington (July 5). Appearances by pianist Stewart Goodyear, The King’s Singers, Quatuor Cobalt, Payadora Tango Ensemble, and Hannaford Street Silver Band are among the highlights of an eclectic summer program. www.musicandbeyond.ca
Ottawa Chamberfest
Running July 23–Aug. 2, the festival opens with Opera Atelier’s production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, with soprano Meghan Lindsay and Douglas Williams in the title roles. Other highlights include a celebration of Canadian composer John Estacio with Brett Polegato (July 24), vocalist Alex Samaras singing Elvis Costello’s song cycle The Juliet Letters (July 25), and Finnish musician Pekka Kuusisto and American singer-songwriter Gabriel Kahane presenting their own works (July 28). www.chamberfest.com
Collingwood Music Festival
The festival, which runs from May 30 through July 13, offers something for every musical taste including gospel, classical chamber, choral, dance and music theatre. Highlights include pianist and Artistic Director Daniel Vnukowski with violinist with violinist Michael Schulte (June 7), a Zimbabwean program on July 7, while Tamar Ilana with Ventanas present a fusion of Flamenco dance and music, Sephardic love songs, and Balkan dance tunes on July 8.
Kontiwennenha:wi Ahkwesahsne Women Singers of the Wolf Clan family of the Kanienkehaka Nation appear on July 9. Then on July 11, the Elmer Iseler Singers present Orff’s Carmina Burana with soloists Amy Dodington, Camille Labonté, Peter McGillivray and William Salinas-Crosby. A mix of Klezmer, Yiddish swing, jazz and classical is offered by Schmalz & Pepper on July 13. Music theatre legend Louise Pitre appears on July 17 and the festival closes with a Toronto Mass Choir gospel program on July 18. www.collingwoodfestival.com
Westben
Situated in bucolic Northumberland county, Westben offers something for all musical tastes—opening with Shrek the Musical on June 12 and closing with Cuban-Canadian composer-pianist Hilario Durán and his Latin Jazz Big Band on Aug. 2. A program of opera and musical theatre favourites is presented by baritone Gino Quilico and soprano Andrea Núñez on July 4 and a July 11 appearance by Oji-Cree musician Aysanabee are just two festival highlights. www.westben.ca
Festival of the Sound
Established in 1979, Ontario’s first annual international summer classical music festival runs July 22–Aug. 8. Opening night welcomes the National Youth Orchestra under Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser. A Viennese Cafe features singers Leslie Fagan, Allyson McHardy and Colin Ainsworth (July 25), while the weekend of Aug. 1 & 2 is dedicated to jazz. The National Academy Orchestra under Tania Miller closes the festival on Aug. 8. www.festivalofthesound.ca
Highlands Opera Studio
One of Canada’s foremost training programs for young opera singers, Highlands is situated in beautiful Haliburton cottage country and, once again, offers a comprehensive program of master classes, concerts and full opera productions. This summer’s fully-staged opera is Donizetti’s Don Pasquale (Aug. 27–31).
Renowned Canadian tenor Richard Margison gives a public master class on Aug. 4 and there are concerts of popular opera and musical-theatre favourites on Aug. 6 & 13. Alumni of the program return for a special evening on Aug. 16, and on Aug. 19 you can attend a workshop presentation of operas based on stories from Haliburton County, composed and performed by artists of the county. www.highlandsoperastudio.com
Opera 5, Toronto Opera Festival
Opera 5 returns with the sophomore year of Toronto’s first professional opera festival with a mix of world premieres and repertoire favourites. The company will debut composer Cecilia Livingston’s and librettist Duncan McFarlane’s Parḗlios, which explores themes of migration and climate change. (June 12–14). Two of Puccini’s short operas from Il trittico will be directed by Jessica Derventzis: Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi (June 3–7). www.opera5.ca
Stratford Summer Music
This year’s festival runs from July 5–25. To open, past and present members of the Montreal, Toronto and Quebec symphony orchestras play alongside members of National Youth Orchestra Canada’s chamber training program in an un-conducted performance of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. Other featured artists include Ensemble Obiora (July 9), Iranian-Canadian violinist Saba Yousefi (July 12), and the trio of mezzo-soprano Maria Soulis, violinist Joyce Lai and guitarist William Beauvais (July 24). Young artists of the festival’s vocal academy perform musical theatre on July 17. www.stratfordsummermusic.ca
Luminato
Toronto’s wide-ranging arts festival runs June 3–28 with site-specific installations, multi-disciplinary theatre and music. Composer Rene Orth’s and librettist Hannah Moscovitch’s opera 10 Days in a Madhouse follows trailblazing journalist Nellie Bly as she fakes madness to be admitted to Blackwell’s Asylum in 1887 (June 16–21). On June 20, the Philip Glass Ensemble, handpicked by the groundbreaking minimalist composer, performs a selection of his early works.www.luminatofestival.com
Summer Opera Lyric Theatre
After four decades, SOLT still stands as Toronto’s premier young artist summer training program. This season it will present fully-staged productions of Menotti’s The Medium, Janáček’s Katya Kabanova, and composer Victor Davies’s and librettist Eugene Benson’s chamber operetta adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy Earnest, The Importance of Being. Thirty vocalists from across Canada perform at the Alumnae Theatre starting in late July. www.solt.ca
Summer Music in the Garden
Situated on Toronto’s waterfront, this year’s program of free events runs from June 21–Aug. 27. Highlights include soprano Julie Lumsden with The Sovereignty of Song (June 21), The Nathaniel Dett Chorale (June 28), Daughters of Donbas with Songs of Stolen Children (Aug. 13), and The Happenstancers with BEING: PASCALKAIJA (Aug. 27). www.harbourfrontcentre.com
Festival L’Art de la Musique
The Gatineau festival takes place July 16–19 at Notre-Dame-de-la-Guadeloupe Church. The opening concert on July 16 features jazz and classical pianist John Kofi Dapaah with Le Quatuor Despax. Percussionist Lucy Chen and bass player Dominic Gauthier perform on July 17. There will be a Mozart concert on July 18, and an organ and trumpet recital with Matthieu Latreille and Yves Lussier to close on July 19. www.festivalartdelamusique.com
Quebec
by Justin Bernard
Festival d’opéra de Québec
Now in its 15th year, Festival d’opéra de Québec runs July 21–Aug. 2. The festival presents pieces drawn from the Renaissance period right through to the present day. Newer works include Laurence Jobidon’s L’hiver attend beaucoup de moi (July 24 & 26) and Jean-François Mailloux’s Fables lyriques pour petits et grands enfants (Aug. 1 & 2).
The 20th-century masterpiece Dialogues des Carmélites by Poulenc (July 28, 30 & Aug. 1) is this year’s major production. It features internationally-renowned Quebec singers including sopranos Hélène Guilmette, Florie Valiquette and Guylaine Girard, tenor Frédéric Antoun, and mezzo-soprano Julie Boulianne. Meanwhile, La naissance de l’opéra will once again provide the audience with an opportunity to discover music by Monteverdi at the intersection of poetry, music and song. Ma belle opérette pays tribute to the legacy of baritone and chanson composer Lionel Daunais (July 23 & 25). www.operadequebec.com
ItalFest
Montreal’s Italian festival will offer a wide range of events and activities Aug. 7–16 (dates to be confirmed). The festival takes place in the heart of the city’s Little Italy. Last year’s festivalgoers had an opportunity to take part in an opera gala featuring baritone Hugo Laporte, among other singers. www.italfestmtl.ca
Festival des arts de Saint-Sauveur
This year’s festival runs July 22–Aug. 2 with performances at the intersection of many art forms. The Montreal-based collective People Watching opens the festival, bringing together contemporary circus, dance and physical theatre. Ballet Hispánico New York presents their version of Bizet’s opera, CARMEN.maquia (July 24 & 25) and North Carolina’s Charlotte Ballet makes a festival debut on July 26 with a program that includes Crystal Pite’s Solo Echo set to Brahms sonatas. www.festivaldesarts.ca
FestivalOpéra de Saint-Eustache
This opera festival has been a must-see vocal event in the Laurentians for 17 years. On July 10, the festival presents a new adaptation of Carmen de Montréal, preceded by a concert featuring pianist Serhiy Salov, soprano Lara Jokhadar and cellist Thomas Chartré on July 8. www.festivaloperasteustache.com
Fête de la musique de Tremblant
Fête de la musique de Tremblant celebrates its 26th year in the pedestrian village of the Tremblant Resort Sept. 4–7. Ensemble Caprice opens the festival, Gregory Charles performs on Sept. 5, and singer-songwriter Pierre Lapointe appears on Sept. 6. www.fetedelamusiquetremblant.com
Montreal Chamber Music Festival
Bourgie Hall hosts the 31st Montreal Chamber Music Festival from June 9–20. On the program, works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Chopin, plus a 3 p.m. Schubert concert at Maison symphonique to round out the festival on June 21. www.festivalmontreal.org
Stewart Hall Cultural Centre
The Stewart Hall Cultural Centre in Pointe-Claire hosts numerous summer events, many of them outdoors, including shows, training sessions, workshops and exhibitions. On June 21, curator Armando Perla will conduct a guided tour of the exhibition, To Move Across the Land. It offers an opportunity to learn more about ideas that inspired the exhibition, such as cultural survival, spiritual continuity, and embodied knowledge. www.pointe-claire.ca
Festival Classica
We dedicated an article to a few must-see events at the 2026 Festival Classica in our April–May issue. A wide array of musical genres and local artists will be programmed. A highlight is Supertramp symphonique on June 11, featuring music by one of the most historic 1970s rock groups. More than 60 artists will be on stage at the Cocathédrale Saint-Antoine de Padoue in Longueuil.
Guest soloist Ariel Coulombe will be joined by an ensemble made up of guitarist Raphaël D’Amours, keyboard player and pianist Marie-Jeanne Éthier, saxophonist Louis Plouffe, bass player Marie-Anne Arsenault and drummer Geoffroy Doyon. Ensemble ArtChoral will join the Festival Classica Orchestra under the baton of Simon Fournier. www.festivalclassica.com
CAMMAC
The main goal of this summer’s CAMMAC programming is to promote personal growth. Programming offers an immersion in nature together with world-class training sessions and performances. Starting June 28, the eight-week camp offers a journey through a number of musical works. Master classes will be held from Aug. 2–9, as well as the creation of ensembles for seasoned and novice choral singers. Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols will be the key work of the week. Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal Artistic Director Andrew McAnerney will be conducting madrigals with the choristers, preserving one of the most beloved CAMMAC traditions.www.cammac.ca
Translation: Dwain Richardson
Eastern Canada
by Kaitlyn Chan
New Brunswick Summer Music Festival
Founded in 1994, the New Brunswick Summer Music Festival invites Canadian and international classical musicians to stages throughout Fredericton and the surrounding region. This year, NBSMF presents a two-week festival running Aug. 4–15. The first week offers community-focused concerts and events, including a performance by Atlantic Sinfonia (Aug. 5), while the second week will feature a series of concerts in Memorial Hall, concluding with a gala performance.
The 2026 season highlights the work of acclaimed Nova Scotian pianist, composer and conductor Peter Allen, whose relationship with NBSMF spans two decades. The festival blends innovation and tradition by placing new compositions by Allen alongside works of well-known composers like Beethoven. With this season, NBSMF celebrates the composer’s artistic legacy and continued contribution to the cultural landscape of Atlantic Canada. www.nbsummermusicfestival.ca
Festival Lamèque
For its 50th anniversary, Festival Lamèque will pay homage to Mathieu Duguay, the festival’s founder and artistic director from 1976 to 2000. The festival will host around 50 artists, each specializing in baroque music. Two featured events, both offered Aug. 1, are a reconstruction of the festival’s very first concert—consisting of Bach’s sonatas for flute and harpsichord—and a concert inspired by some of Duguay’s favourite works, performed by harpsichord player Bertrand Cuiller. www.festivalbaroque.com
P.E.I. BLUEGRASS & OLD TIME MUSIC FESTIVAL
From July 3 to 5, the 39th P.E.I. Bluegrass & Old Time Music Festival welcomes 13 bluegrass and old time music groups at the Dundas Fairgrounds. This annual festival brings artists from across Canada and the U.S. This year’s lineup includes New York-based band The Grass Messengers, husband-and-wife duo Serge Bernard and Janet McGarry, and local performers The Stiff Family, among others. The festival welcomes all individuals to its music events in an active effort to strengthen its community. www.peibluegrass.ca
Miramichi Folksong Festival
Miramichi, N.B., hosts Canada’s longest-standing folk music festival, founded in 1957 by Dr. Louise Manny. For its 69th year, the five-day festival will feature a range of instrumentalists including an accordion player, violinist, piper, dotar player, fiddlers and guitarists, as well as vocalists and Irish dancers. Many of the performers were born and raised in New Brunswick and represent its unique musical heritage in their performances. This festival runs from July 30 to Aug. 3 at various venues in Miramichi. www.miramichifolksongfestival.com
Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival
Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival presents a two-week event from June 22 to July 5. This festival draws world-class chamber musicians to St. John’s, N.L., to perform for the local community. For its opening concert, Duo Concertante will present the world premiere of Duncan Major and Melissa Hui’s Tilting: At Water’s Edge, an audiovisual journey featuring original music, animation, and stories told by residents of Tilting, Fogo Island, N.L. (June 22). The festival’s finale will feature Tuckamore’s Young Artists (July 5). www.tuckamorefestival.ca
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