Newfound Music Festival XXIII
Newfound Music Festival XXIII
Guest artist Quasar
January 28-30, 2026
Newfound Music Festival, now in its 23rd year, is an annual festival that invites students, alumni, and faculty to share their "Newfound ideas" with the School of Music community. Join us for workshops, a symposium, special guests, concerts, and a final gala performance. This year's guest artist will be the saxophone quartet Quasar and computer music designer Vincent Cusson.
Complete Festival Schedule:
Composer Showcase with Tönky Hönk
Wednesday, January 28, 2026, 4pm
Choral Room
Free and open to the public. Pizza party for MUN Music students to follow at 5:30pm. (Student ID required.)
Newfound Music Festival: Symposium
Thursday, January 29, 2026, 12pm-3pm
Suncor Energy Hall
Free and open to the public
Newfound Music Festival: Gala Concert
Thursday, January 29, 2026, 7:30pm
D.F. Cook Recital Hall
Featuring performances by Greg Bruce, Andrew Staniland, Madeline Hildebrand, Grace Nolan, Noel Gutierrez, Matthew Roome, Andrew Gosse, Frank O’Brien, Emma Meade, Catherine Furey, Elena Vigna, Ben Diamond, Logan Fletcher, Nulibeth Ortiz de Dominguez, and Peter Verdin.
Newfound Music Festival: Mainstage Concert featuring Quasar and Vincent Cusson
Friday, January 30, 2026, 7:30pm
D.F. Cook Recital Hall
About Quasar:
Fascinated by the music of our times, the Quasar saxophone quartet dedicates itself to the creation and promotion of contemporary music. The group's ventures have included instrumental music, improvisation, and electronics. Alone or accompanied by a symphony orchestra, acoustic or plugged, Quasar offers its audience unique and deeply original programming. The ensemble has won 10 OPUS prizes awarded by the Conseil québécois de la musique, including for "Artist of the Year". Quasar presents a series of concerts in Montreal and performs regularly in Canada and abroad.
Since its founding in 1994, Quasar has premiered over 200 works spanning multiple areas of musical creation. A real driving force of creative music, the quartet works closely with composers favouring research, experimentation and the emergence of new ideas. Quasar thus contributes in an exceptional way to the development of Quebec's music while also being credited several premieres of works by foreign composers.
Marie-Chantal Leclair — artistic director, soprano saxophone
Mathieu Leclair — alto saxophone
André Leroux — tenor saxophone
Jean-Marc Bouchard — baritone saxophone
Newfound Music Festival XXIII - Call For Volunteers
We would greatly appreciate any help from those who would like to volunteer!