With everything from internationally recognized stars of classical music to innovative icons and artists, The Elora Festival takes place from July 11 to 27, 2025. From its opening Mozart extravaganza to the closing barn dance, there’s a wealth of music to experience in the green riverside streets of Elora and Fergus, Ontario.
The Festival includes more than 20 concerts and experiences, curated by artistic director, Mark Vuorinen.
Elora Festival 2025: Highlights
Blockbuster Highlight Concerts showcase high profile performers and both innovative and traditional repertoire.
Opening Night Gala: The Genius of Mozart (July 11)
The music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart comes under the spotlight. Mark Vuorinen conducts, with pianist Chelsea Ahn, The Elora Singers, and Musicians of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. The program includes movements from Idomeneo, the Piano Concerto in A Major, K.488, and the Mass in C Minor, K.427.
Jeremy Dutcher in Concert (July 12)
Multi-award winning Jeremy Dutcher is a classically trained two-spirit song carrier, a composer, activist and ethnomusicologist. He’ll be performing his atmospheric original works.
Chanticleer: Without a Song (July 16)
The San Francisco-based Grammy® Award-winning vocal ensemble perform their Without a Song repertoire, exploring the power of music across the centuries, from Medieval and Renaissance motets by Francesco Landini and Orlando di Lasso, to a new work by the GRAMMY-nominated composer Ayanna Woods, and a new version of the jazz standard “Without a Song,” specially arranged for the ensemble.
Kaleidoscope: Autorickshaw, Penderecki String Quartet, The Elora Singers (July 18)
North-South-East-West fusion is what you can expect from this unique collaborative concert that will take on anything from classical Indian music to Bollywood, through jazz and folk to Indo-inspired original pieces.
The Elora Singers and Junges Vokalensemble Hannover (July 19)
The Elora Festival welcomes the Junges Vokalensemble Hannover and their conductor, Prof. Klaus-Jürgen Etzold from Germany. Formed by Prof. Etzold in 1981, Junges Vokalensemble is an award-winning professional choir that performs a appellate. The joint program includes music by Eric Whitacre, Imant Raminsh, Andrew Balfour, Timothy Corlis and others.
The Gesualdo Six: Fading (July 24)
Award-winning British vocal ensemble The Gesualdo Six, directed by Owain Park, released their ninth album, Queen of Hearts, in 2024. The program is inspired by the service of Compline, including renaissance polyphony by Palestrina, Tallis and Gesualdo, along with works by Veljo Tormis, Franz Schubert, and Gerda Blok-Wilson.
Unplugged (July 25)
This popular Festival feature returns, with The Elora Singers in a program of Broadway classics and pop hits sung solo and in small ensembles.
Festival Finale: Heroic Handel (July 26)
The music of George Frideric Handel comes under the spotlight for the festival finale. Mark Vuorinen conducts, with soprano Myriam Leblanc, The Elora Singers, and Musicians of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, in a program highlighting his 1713 Te Deum, along with virtuosic arias from Handel’s opera and oratorios.
Chamber Concerts
Chamber concerts in intimate venues give the audience an immersive experience.
Elinor Frey: Bach Cello Suites July 12)
American-Canadian cellist, gambist, and researcher Elinor Frey returns to the Festival to perform Bach’s Suites 1, 5, and 6.
The Elora Singers at Twilight with Bénédicte Lauziére (July 17)
The program features a choral setting of Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, with violin soloist Bénédicte Lauzière in a candle-lit twilight concert.
Rachel Fenlon: Winterreise (July 19)
Soprano and pianist Rachel Fenlon has carved out a unique career in the classical music world as an operatic vocalist who accompanies herself on the piano. She’ll perform Schubert’s iconic Winterreise.
Of Light and Solace (July 20)
American saxophonist Paul Cohen and organist Andrew Henderson to perform Calvin Hampton’s Variations on Amazing Grace, Guy de Lioncourt’s Trois Mélodies Grégoriennes, and works by Denis Bédard, André Lamproye & David Sampson which take advantage of the unique instrumental combination.
Schmaltz & Pepper (July 26)
Toronto ensemble Schmaltz & Pepper redefines contemporary Yiddish music, using classical virtuosity to illuminate their own compositions as well as arrangements of traditional works.
Janina Fialkowska in Recital (July 26)
Concert pianist Janina Fialkowska is a legend who has been lighting up the stage for a half century. She’ll be performing a program of music by Grieg, Schumann, Ravel and Chopin.
Concert Experiences
Special immersive experiences offer music in a distinctive environment.
Baroque Music by Candlelight (July 13)
The Elora Singers, cellist Elinor Frey, lutist Lucas Harris, and organist Jonathan Oldengarm perform music from 17th century and 18th century Italy, France and England in the candlelit Fieldstone Barn.
Wrapped in Love (July 23)
Audience members at this interactive, immersive concert experience can move freely around the Fieldstone Barn, interacting with art installations as The Elora Singers perform works from the choral repertoire.
Music in the Woods (July 24)
Bright and early at 8 a.m., you can join The Elora Singers and instrumentalists for a trail walk to music in the Sandy Hills Regional Forest.
And More…
Along with ticketed events, The Elora Festival offers free music, family concerts, and The Festival wraps up with a family-friendly Barn Dance complete with food trucks, games and live
music by Toronto-based folk/bluegrass band The Barrel Boys.
- Find tickets and more details about The Elora Festival [HERE].
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