Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s 12th annual New Creations Festival – a celebration of avant-garde contemporary music featuring a lineup of the world’s top musicians – kicks off this Saturday, March 5.

The festival features original, intriguing music by Canadian composers Kevin Lau, Paul Frehner and DJ Skratch Bastid, plus works by renowned international artists, including a piece by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead. There are also a series of pre-concert performances and post-concert parties that will take place in the lobby at Roy Thomson Hall to help celebrate the unique collaboration of turntables + symphony.

Saturday, March 5

Fragile Absolute kicks off the festival, combining wind instruments, percussion, electronics and celeste. Guest Brett Dean will perform solo in his Viola Concerto and popular Canadian DJ, Skratch Bastid will man the turntables.

  • Pre-concert event – 7:15 p.m. in the lobby, Australian composer/pianist Anthony Pateras performs his solo piano work, Blood Stretched Out.
  • Intermission – Host Gary Kulesha chats with DJ Skratch Bastid about the evening’s performance.
  • Post-concert event – In the lobby, the Afiara String Quartet and DJ Skratch Bastid perform an excerpt from the Spin Cycle project.

Wednesday, March 9

Two Memorials (for Anton Webern and John Lennon): Australian composer James Ledger pays tribute to two universally admired composers who died tragically.

  • Pre-concert event – 7:15 p.m. in the lobby, ASSASSINS: University of Toronto Contemporary Music Ensemble (gamUT)—Wallace Halladay, director; Samuel Tam, conductor—“executes” Webern, Vivier, McCartney/Lennon, and Foss.
  • Intermission – Host Gary Kulesha chats with James Ledger, Paul Frehner, and Peter Mettler about the evening’s performance.
  • Post–concert event – In the lobby, The Rattles, Canada’s most authentic tribute to The Beatles, perform some of their most beloved songs.

Saturday, March 12

In the final show, Knocking on the Hellgate audiences will enjoy Water, a soft yet vibrant piece by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead. As an ear-opening final bonus, DJ Skratch Bastid creates a remix of music from the festival.

  • Pre-concert event –  6:45 p.m. in the lobby, soprano Carla Huhtanen and baritone Peter McGillivray showcase selections from Tapestry Opera’s rich history of absurd, tragic, and beautiful Canadian operas, including a sneak preview of The Rocking Horse Winner, to be premièred in May 2016.
  • Post-concert event – In the lobby, Indie band Absolutely Free creates hypnotic, patient music that integrates analog electronics, African polyrhythms, psychedelia, Bollywood, and Krautrock.

Check out this video for a sample of what’s to come. For more details about the performances please visit: https://www.tso.ca/new-creations-festival