The beloved and celebrated Agassiz Chamber Music Festival is back - and, for the first time ever, 100% virtual. Artistic director Paul Marleyn on Morning Light!

Stretching beyond the reach of the vast ancient lake which gives the festival its name, Agassiz, Connected is available worldwide, featuring some of Canada’s finest chamber musicians. 

“I’m really happy and proud of the fact that Agassiz has been able to adapt and go virtual,” says artistic director and founder Paul Marleyn.  

Agassiz Festival Program

As one would expect, planning a multi-day festival which features both in and out of province performers can be tricky at the best of times, let alone accounting for the changing provincial health regulations and requirements. 

After making the decision to move entirely online in early April, the idea of exploring two centres of music was hatched — “a tale of two cities” Marleyn calls it.

“We have artists and concerts being streamed in Winnipeg with our wonderful Manitoba artists,” explains Marleyn. “At the same time, we wanted to—as Agassiz has every year—present artists from across Canada.” 

Most of those artists happen to be from the Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa areas. “That’s the tale of two cities idea and the theme of ‘connected’: artists being connected across different cities and our audiences with artists in different parts of Canada.”

Agassiz Festival, Connected runs from Sunday, May 30 to Saturday, June 5. Full festival pass $100 or $20 per concert. 

Visit: www.agassizfestival.com

In the full conversation below, hear about festival highlights, learn more about the performers, and get details on the programming.