Labyrinth Musical Workshop Ontario

06/03/2026

👂🌄Coming this week to Open Ears:

Araz Salek is an Iranian tar player who has been actively teaching and performing since 2000. After moving to Toronto, Salek continued his practice guest teaching at the University of Alberta and the Labyrinth Musical Workshop in Crete, Greece. In 2017 he co-founded Labyrinth Musical Workshop Ontario, where he serves as Artistic Director, providing opportunities for education and presentation of modal music traditions in the Toronto area.

Salek performs often in other settings, experimenting with new groupings and forms. He has appeared on several recordings and released two albums: “Birth” (2008) and Peripheries of Nahavand (2025).

Don’t miss his experimental medieval makam performance in Waterloo this weekend:

🏰 Fragmented Forms
⏰ June 6 @ 1 pm
📍 at 22 Willow St
💵$30/$5 student with ID

Go to www.openears.ca to view the full festival schedule and purchase your festival pass.

06/02/2026

👂🌿Coming this week to Open Ears :

Heather Saumer is a trombonist, multi-instrumentalist, singer, composer, mover, thinker, wonderer, noticer, collaborator. She has a MMus in Jazz from UofT, and also works as a Gestalt Psychotherapist, Tuning Fork Therapist, Yoga Nidra instructor, music teacher, and group facilitator.  

A versatile performer, she is as comfortable singing country songs as she is improvising, playing Jazz/Contemporary Classical ensembles, or dancing with tall grasses.  She enjoys experimenting with sound in physical space, and considering the experience of both listener and performer when creating pieces - often bringing multiple artistic disciplines together.  She’s performed across Canada, New York, parts of Europe, and lives off-grid in West Grey.

➡️We are excited to welcome Heather to the medieval-makam ensemble Fragmented Forms, and see her perform in Waterloo this weekend:

🏰 Fragmented Forms
⏰ June 6 @ 1 pm
📍 at 22 Willow St
💵$30/$5 student with ID

Go to www.openears.ca to view the full festival schedule and purchase your festival pass.

06/01/2026

👂🎻Coming this week to Open Ears:

Aysel Taghi-Zada is a passionate violinist devoted to the performance of classical and contemporary music. She has collaborated with some of the most distinguished composers and musicians from North America and Europe such as Philip Glass, Brian Current, and Salvatore Sciarrino.

She is frequently invited to perform with contemporary ensembles such as Tapestry Opera, New Music Concerts, and Soundstreams Canada, and can be heard on Jason Doell’s 2018 album “...Amid the Cannon’s Roar”.

Aysel has been an active participant of the Labyrinth Ontario community, recently graduating from the Labyrinth Ensemble and continuing to build Fragmented Forms! Don’t miss her in Waterloo this weekend:

🏰 Fragmented Forms
⏰ June 6 @ 1 pm
📍 at 22 Willow St
💵$30/$5 student with ID

🐴🛡🤺

Go to www.openears.ca to view the full festival schedule and purchase your festival pass!

05/29/2026

🌸🌿We are SO excited to share that we will be coming to Summer Music in the Garden on July 19!

After last year’s performance was cancelled due to inclement weather, we have been eagerly awaiting a chance to come to this beautiful space.

The performance will be inspired by mentor Ross Daly, one of the world’s foremost voices in modal music, who has carried the traditions of Central and West Asia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean forward while expanding them into bold, contemporary forms. The name comes from his piece “Acalypha” which draws from the Ancient Greek name for the Copper Leaf plant. 🌺

This performance will feature Julian Anderson-Bowes .anderson.bowes , Roa (HyunYoung) Lee , Naomi McCarroll-Butler , Sasan Salaseli , and Araz Salek from the Labyrinth Ensemble:

Sunday, July 19
4PM-5PM
Toronto Music Garden
479 Queens Quay West
FREE!

📸

05/28/2026

Please note: there will be no Makam Nights for the month of June!

We will return in July with a special guest…stay tuned🎶

🎥 at May Makam Nights at

05/27/2026

📖Thank you for joining us last week with !

It was a pleasure to return to the North York Central Library, this time with the Turkish Makam ensemble. We were joined by co-presenters and host , who gave us valuable insight and context to the performance, and Turkish Consul General Mr. Can Yoldaş!

Prior to the show, audience members got a close up look at the instruments and chatted with us about modal music. We love having these conversations and this was the perfect setting.

🎵 .anderson.bowes

05/26/2026

🏰Coming June 6 to Open Ears: Festival of Music & Sound

Fragmented Forms is an experimental rotating ensemble, informed by Medieval European music and the microtonal aspects of Makam music. Embracing free improv, every performance will offer something new to their specific audience!

This upcoming show performance will feature Aysel Taghi-Zada (violin), Araz Salek (tar), and Heather Saumer (trombone). The repertoire will range from new arrangements of 13th century cantigas to contemporary makam musics, creating something deeply historical and wildly imaginative that, at the same time, is relevant to the epoch we live in:

⏰ June 6 @ 1 pm
📍 at 22 Willow St in Waterloo
💵$30/$5 student with ID
🎟️ openears.ca

🎥 Fragmented Forms at

05/22/2026

Last night we had our first qin-ster at Makam Nights!

Atom Wang taught us about the 3000+ year history of the instrument. Designed to communicate with the ancestral gods, it is a meditative practice that intersects with philosophy and nature.

We enjoyed exploring the aesthetic and artistic connection to makam, and had great conversation! Thank you for joining us🏔️🌊🍃

05/21/2026

05/21/2026

📸The Labyrinth Ensemble’s stunning performance, photographed by

Thank you again for attending and supporting the new iteration’s debut. We are so impressed by the outcome, and eagerly anticipate the next four years of this project!

A huge shout out to our guest musician .lopez.sanz and the members of the ensemble: .lina .sadeghi_82 Araz Salek
➕MPP for supporting the event!
➕Ensemble coordinator .bongo for executing this project!

❤️ This event was made possible by .council .heritage