Sound Atlas Festival Day 1 - Lineage and Rupture

The 2026 Sound Atlas Festival's REALMS OF INFLUENCE begins where past and present collide with Day 1 - Lineage and Rupture. Here, composers, performers, and listeners step into overlapping worlds, each shaped by distinct gravitational pulls and soundscapes. Journey with us through various performance spaces in Contemporary Calgary, as we bring you the best of contemporary music by living composers and sound artists in indelible performances that will fill you with wonder.

7PM - Lineage and Rupture begins with a set that fuses virtuosic command and interpretive depth in the hands of internationally acclaimed pianist, Holly Roadfeldt. A leading advocate for contemporary music, Holly's program explores the connection between past and present through a tapestry of works written for her by Tonia Ko, David Rakowski, Kirk O’Riordan, and Anthony Joseph Lanman — including Hommage à Eddie Van Halen from her 2025 album Hommages—as well as music by Mary Kouyoumdjian and Joan Tower.

8:15PM - Powerhouse host ensemble Latitude 49 presents States of Matter, a mind-melting set featuring music by Kevin Day, our 2026 featured composer. Together we will become un(ravel)ed and delve into places where The Mind Is Like Water.  Canadian composer Dorothy Chang picks up the liquid state with her Walk On Water for cello and saxophone. In Ken Thomson's Immiscible, differing polarities of tone and time are explored, at once interacting and rejecting each other's influence. 

9:30PM - Witness the hypnotic blend of Calgary's own marimbist Rod Thomas Squance and Toronto's own tabla player Zaheer-Abbas Janmohamed in a collaborative performance weaving material from Hindustani traditions of raga to contemporary improvisations. Here, localized inspirations resonate alongside global idioms, tracing their power back to mentors and traditions and forwards into the unknown.

Please note: while children are encouraged to attend our festival, most of our sets are geared towards an adult audience. Please be advised that some acts will include sound amplification, electronics, strobe/flashing lights, and mature subject matter.