Venue: Église Sacré-Coeur-de-Jésus (1471 Ontario East, Montreal, QC H2L 1S3) Date: October 9, 2025 Doors: 7:30 PM Music: 8:00 PM
Tickets: $20.00 plus taxes and fees in advance / $25.00 at the door
Advance Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/festival-flux-john-kameel-farah-tickets-1685849995719
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/share/19i25kirSN
Co-presented with Canadian New Music Network, daphne, EAF, Innovations en Concert, International Institute for the Critical Studies in Improvisation, Interzone, Le Vivier, Mardi Spaghetti, McGill University’s Laboratory of Urban Culture and Québec Musiques Parallèles.
Renowned for performances that weave together the ornate counterpoint of Baroque masters with the fluid improvisations of Arabic classical music, Palestinian-Canadian composer/improvisor John Kameel Farah is one of the most compelling contemporary artists on the scene today. For Flux 2026, he’ll create a cathedral of keyboards in the transcendent acoustics of Église Sacré-Coeur-de-Jésus, Montréal.
Drawing on centuries of Arab maqam traditions and the spiritual architecture of J. S. Bach, Farah’s music is steeped in heritage, yet constantly opening outward, embracing electronic soundscapes and experimental textures. It moves fluidly between the church organ, piano, and vintage analog synthesizers, crafting an intricate sonic architecture. Improvisations are launched as contrapuntal meditations, spiral into hypnotic electronic loops, or blossom into expansive, maqam-inspired melodies.
Farah’s journey has brought him from concert halls to underground clubs, from Jerusalem to Berlin, from fugues to feedback. In 2023, he shared the stage with the legendary Tangerine Dream, paying homage to the cosmic lineage of electronic music. Yet at the heart of his artistry remains a profound devotion to heritage: the meeting of Baroque rigor and Arabic improvisatory freedom, refracted through the lens of his Palestinian roots.
In this intimate performance, Farah transforms keyboards into vessels of memory and imagination – ships bearing heritage and memory on a sonic voyage.