Summer 2023 Updates

Updates: lightening round, coming at you from YYC Calgary pre redeye to YHZ Halifax. May’s odes to home here.

May 29 - June 24 Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

“Save Our Old Forests”

Elena Kats-Chernin - Eliza’s Aria

Fu-Tong Wong - Suite: A Dream of the Motherland

I. South of the Yangtse River

II. Sheng Dance

III. Remembrance

IV. Song of the Wagon-driver

V. Hand-Drum Dance

Kala Ramnath - Aalap and Tarana

Dinuk Wijeratne - Violin Sonata 

III. Resilience

*Fazil Say - Sonata No.2 “Mount Ida”

I. Destruction of Nature

II. Wounded Birds

III. Rite of Hope

Joe Hisaishi/Wesley Chu - “Legend of Ashitaka” from Princess Mononoke

*”Due to illegal deforestation in the nature reserve of Mount Ida, a mountain between Canakkale and Balikesir in Turkey, Fazil Say spontaneously gave an open-air concert on 18 August 2019. The artistic idea behind the concert was to listen to the music of the trees and all forest inhabitants. The Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano op. 82, "Mount Ida", composed after that concert, hence addresses this idea of life and the preservation of life in music. It describes the existence and survival of trees, birds, turtles, squirrels, and many other creatures in integrity.”


July 13 - 26 Bodrum, Ankara, Sivas, Trabzon, Turkey

Duo Incarnadine “Four Cities” documentary filming part 1: Turkey. Sandwiched between visits to Switzerland and Greece.

August 13 - 27 Airdrie, Alberta “Windwood Music Festival”

“A Fair To Remember”

Opening Concert “A Windwood Fairy Tale”

FRIDAY 8/18 @ 7 pm Nose Creek Park Amphitheater
Free Admission

Performing as Duo Perdendosi, violinist Maitreyi Muralidharan and pianist Tong Wang raise the curtain on the 2023 Windwood Festival with a new, thrilling musical storytelling concert. The Duo will take you along an original fairy tale from the enchanted forests of the Czech Republic and the mystical Yangzi River of the East China Sea through to bewildering drama inside “Howl’s Moving Castle”. Finally, with your help to sound the fairy godmother’s magical triangle, we come back and around again, home to Windwood, where Fauré’s luscious Violin Sonata sweeps the fantastical memories into the breeze of the open air.

Featuring works by Beethoven, Janáček, Wong, Wijeratne, Kats-Chernin, Hisaishi, Chu, and Fauré.

Food & Chamber Music Funfair

SUNDAY 8/20 @2 pm Nose Creek Park Amphitheater
Free Admission

6 international resident artists take over the stage for a special chamber music concert. Don’t miss this special opportunity: come hear tango, jazz, classics, modern, and old-time favourites alike in one concert experience! Arrive early at 12pm to enjoy a festive community potluck and family-friendly events before the musical showcase!

Featuring piano trios by Amy Beach and Fanny Mendelssohn along with works by Piazzolla, Purich, and Nina Simone/Michael Bublé’s “Feeling Good”!

Renaissance Fair

WEDNESDAY 8/23 @ 5pm Jensen Park Gazebo
Free Admission

Hark! Do mine ears deceive me? They do not! You have heard correctly! The Windwood Music Festival is proud to present a Renaissance Faire at the Jensen Park Gazebo! Come hear the distinguished WMF String Quartet perform masterworks by Florence Price and Felix Mendelssohn, along with some merry tunes from times of old. Visit the illustrious vendors of the Airdrie Farmers Market, watch the fantastical feats of circus performers and aerial acrobats, and participate in theatrical festivities! Dress for the times or come as thou art! 

Musical Carousel

FRIDAY 8/25 @ 7 pm Chinook Park
Free Admission

Do you have a hard time answering the question “what kind of music do you like,” because you like so many different kinds of music that you can’t possibly choose? Well then this concert is for you! Come see all 8 WMF musicians while they perform pop hits arranged for piano and strings outdoors at Chinook Park. Following a wild collage of tunes from Russian Traditional songs, Irish fiddling, French cabaret, and good ol’ Western rodeo, the Windwood Festival musicians will invite local students and artists to join them in performing Boccherini’s String Quartet and Coldplay’s Viva la Vida! A true community collaboration, the concert will conclude with a festive performance with the musicians of the Calgary Civic Low-Brass Quartet.

A Final Fair-Well

SATURDAY 8/26 @1 pm Daybreak Church
Entry Fee: Pay What You Can

Ever heard classical strings and piano rock out? After two weeks of inspiring creativity and celebrating community, Duo Perdendosi and the resident artists come together for an eclectic chamber music concert. Experience the monumental Brahms Piano Quintet as well as American-Indian composer Reena Esmail’s luminous Piano Trio, African-American composer William Grant Still’s “Summerland”, and a final hurrah with an all-time classic: “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. Come celebrate the classics in every sense of the word!

Salon Concert

SATURDAY 8/26 @8 pm Windwood Residence House
RSVP: Seating is limited

The Windwood family invites you into their home! Join the resident artists in the intimate setting of the Windwood Residence for a special salon concert: the after party where you get to experience the magic of friendship and music right up close - along with delicious hors d'oeuvres and wine! Drink, feast, and be merry!

Tong WangComment