School of Music, University of Victoria
Sounding Grounds
A Gathering of New Music, Experimental Sound, and Interdisciplinary Art
Jan 30 – Feb 1, 2026
This multi-day festival is a meeting place for UVic’s most adventurous creators. Featuring student and faculty composers, improvisers, builders, thinkers, and listeners, Sounding Grounds invites you to explore the curious and ever-evolving terrain of contemporary sound.
Schedule of events:
Friday, Jan. 30
12:30 – 1:20 PM
Phillip T. Young Recital Hall
Admission by donation
Fridaymusic: New works by student composers
A concert of bold new works by UVic student composers that spans acoustic, electronic and hybrid forms. Expect unexpected sounds!
Friday, Jan. 30
8 PM
Farquhar Auditorium
Jamie Cassels Centre
UVic Orchestra: Nobles, Smetana, Schumann
Yariv Aloni, conductor
The UVic Symphony Orchestra presents a dynamic program that journeys through vivid musical landscapes, from operatic drama to symphonic grandeur. Featuring Jordan Nobles’ Apollo—an evocative, contemporary work exploring light and motion.
Saturday, Jan. 31
1:30 – 3 PM
Rm. B037
MacLaurin Building, B-Wing
Free admission
Sonic Improvisation Workshop
Bring your instrument, voice, or just your curiosity. A low-pressure, high-reward space for spontaneous sonic exploration. No experience necessary.
Saturday, Jan. 31
7:30 PM
Phillip T. Young Recital Hall
Admission by donation
Faculty Concert Series
Local Currents
UVic faculty and staff share original works that highlight the depth, range, and individuality of our community’s artistic voices. The program features Anthony Tan’s bound/woven for electronics; a collaborative laptop and video performance by Megan Harton & Isaiah Doyle; Taylor Brook’s Hypha for electric guitar with electronics and video projections; Sarah Belle Reid’s Brittle Stars for voice and electronics; Lauren McCall’s work for flute and electronics; Ajtony Csaba’s Wind Drumming for piano and live electronics; and Kristy Farkas’s In this light for piano.
Sunday, Feb. 1
2 – 5 PM
CReaTeLab, Rm. B004
MacLaurin Building, B-Wing
Free admission
VR Experience: The Witness Blanket
Explore Carey Newman’s powerful national monument through virtual reality. Inspired by a woven blanket, the Witness Blanket is a large-scale work of art. It contains hundreds of items reclaimed from residential schools, churches, government buildings and traditional and cultural structures from across Canada.
This is a space for listening, remembering, and honouring truth and reconciliation.
Reservations are now full.
Sunday, Feb. 1
7:30 PM
Phillip T. Young Recital Hall
Admission by donation
Shapes for Sounds Vol. 04
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Part gallery, part playground, this annual variety throwdown transforms space through sculpture, sound art, noise, and performance. A tribute to the Merz art movement, the evening brings together action painting, voice, video, power electronics, and embodied performance—exploring the relationships between sound, the body, materials, and architecture.
Featuring: Puppets Forsaken, Hermit, Agnes, Alex Taylor-McCallum, Edith Skeard, Kegan McFadden, Ciel Boehme, John Boehme, Paul Walde, Grace Salez, Evan Locke, Mitch Renaud, Derk Wolmuth, and Lesley Marshall.