Open Frequencies - Day 2

The annual VNM Festival returns with Open Frequencies, a three-day program spotlighting bold, globally engaged approaches to new music by artists working at the forefront of experimental, interdisciplinary, and cross-cultural sound practices.

 

Okkyung Lee (Korea)

approx 60 minutes

Okkyung Lee is an internationally recognized cellist, composer, and improviser known for her innovative practice and improvisational work utilising visceral extended techniques on her instrument. Lee has taken a broad array of inspirations—including noise, improvisation, jazz, western classical, and Korean traditional and popular music—and used them to forge a highly unique approach. She is celebrated for creating expressive and emotionally intense performances that range from delicate, lyrical passages to powerful, unconventional sounds. Lee has collaborated with leading artists in contemporary and avant-garde music, demonstrating exceptional creativity, technical mastery, and artistic versatility.

 

Meredith Bates (Salt Spring Island)

The Observer Effect

2026, approx 25 minutes

JUNO and WCMA award-winning violinist, violist, and composer Meredith Bates (Salt Spring Island) performs selections from her recently released album, The Observer Effect (2026). A reference to a key principle in quantum mechanics and philosophy—the notion that the act of observing alters that which is being observed—The  Observer Effect is a meditation on “perception, illusion, and metamorphosis—the subtle processes through which sound, like identity, shifts under pressure". 

 

To purchase a Festival Pass for all three nights, please visit: Open Frequencies - Festival Pass 

 

 

 

Banner credits:
Okkyung Lee by Eun Chun