Through Time and Space
About this Event
Through Time and Space – Concert of the SALT New Music Festival
Zafraan Ensemble (Berlin) + Ensemble Paramirabo (Montréal)
Two ensembles come into close artistic contact in a program that travels between poetry, memory, repetition, movement, and transformation.
The first half of the concert presents Zafraan Ensemble, one of Berlin’s leading contemporary music groups, in a program shaped by contrasting musical perspectives and ways of experiencing time. After the intermission, Zafraan and Ensemble Paramirabo join forces, creating a larger shared musical space for four works by composers from different cultural and artistic backgrounds.
At the centre of the second half is Ajtony Csaba’s Taajuu, created in collaboration with and for Zafraan Ensemble. Musicians move between conducting, physical movement, and instrumental performance as music theatre, composition, virtuosity, performance art, and “eye music” intersect. Bodies, gestures, and the surrounding space become integral parts of the musical experience.
Bringing together artists from Berlin and Montréal, the concert reflects SALT 2026’s theme of Proximity: proximity between two ensembles, between Canadian and international artists, between sound and movement, and between performers and audiences. The evening includes one world premiere and three Canadian premieres.
PROGRAM
Alireza Farhang: When I Do Count the Clock That Tells the Time
Samir Odeh-Tamimi: Li Sabbra
Michaela Rea Catranis: it was hanged with purple and pall
Ricardo Eizirik: Re-wind-re-write
Stefan Keller: Hammer
— intermission —
Anna Korsun: Spleen (Canadian premiere)
Yoav Pasovsky: Urta (Canadian premiere)
Arshia Samsaminia: Alarm Fatigue II (world premiere)
Ajtony Csaba: Taajuu (Canadian premiere)
Zafraan Ensemble is a Berlin-based contemporary music group founded in 2009. Its ten permanent members come from Spain, France, New Zealand, Australia, and Germany, reflecting the ensemble’s strongly international character. Zafraan performs music that engages directly with contemporary life and regularly collaborates with composers, conductors, visual artists, theatre-makers, and performers to develop new artistic formats.
The ensemble is particularly known for carefully conceived programs, staged concerts, and immersive productions connecting music with theatre, performance, installation, and dance. It has appeared at major festivals and institutions including MaerzMusik, Ultraschall Berlin, the Berlin Philharmonie, and Festival Musica Strasbourg, as well as at international venues in China, Chile, and the United States.
Ensemble Paramirabo is a Montréal-based contemporary music ensemble dedicated to performing new work, supporting emerging Canadian composers, and expanding the traditional concert experience. Founded in 2008 at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, the group takes its name from Claude Vivier’s Paramirabo. Under the artistic direction of flutist Jeffrey Stonehouse, the ensemble has developed a strong international presence, appearing in Canada, Belgium, England, Mexico, and the United States.
A leading advocate for contemporary creation, Ensemble Paramirabo has presented more than 80 premieres and commissions. The ensemble received the OPUS Performer of the Year Award and earned a 2020 JUNO nomination for Alone and Unalone, created with composer James O’Callaghan.
ABOUT SALT NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL
The SALT New Music Festival is a contemporary music festival based in Victoria, BC, bringing together British Columbian, Canadian, and international composers and performers. The 2026 edition explores the theme of Proximity—closeness to one another, to nature, to the universe, and across differences of background, nationality, identity, and generation. Through concerts, outdoor events, movement, and shared listening, SALT creates encounters where new music becomes a space for connection, exchange, and discovery.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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