X Avant XXI: Memory Mannnnn Fest Pass

The 21st edition of the X Avant Festival is all about Memory Mannnnn. 

The Festival Pass will grant access to three events:

Wednesday, October 14, 2026 / Ava Mendoza, Andrew Noseworthy & Grace Scheele, Sonic Bikes Installation

Thursday, October 15, 2026 / Bilal Nasser & Ensemble, Sonic Bikes

Friday, October 16, 2026 / Solar Organ Ensemble, For the Youth: Reilluminated (Alexis Nanibush-Pamajewong), Sonic Bikes Installation

Initially inspired by the beloved Electro Harmonix Memory Man delay pedal, our theme encompasses the sonic potential of signal chain processing. Festival artists will build on and extend this concept, connecting chains of memory through delay, distortion, filtering, phasing, and resonant performances.

For this edition of X Avant, artists approach effects pedals as inquiry and play, utilizing live processing to expand the sonic palette. We recall a common feature of early Music Gallery presentations with custom-built instruments that integrate repurposed bike parts and the mechanical process of pedalling as part of installations and live activations. 

Other featured artists consider how memory can be a contested or vulnerable space, subject to erasure and distortion; yet, memory can also be a site of reclamation and resurgence. In our culminating performance, we reflect on the transcendent, timeless, and embodied sonic memories that manifest across musical traditions.

As the festival approaches we dwell in the often tenuous spaces between us, and forge links that bridge creative, familial, and community lineage. 

What is revealed in this process, and how might we explore the interplay of past and present as memories recur, degrade, and take on new meaning?