September 16-21, 2025

Edwin Huizinga, Artistic Director
India Gailey, Composer-in-Residence

Step away from daily routines and immerse yourself in the rejuvenating power of music. In a beautiful, intimate setting surrounded by fellow music lovers, you’ll experience the wonder of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante up close. The festival also features the vibrant folk stylings of Moira Smiley and the dynamic jazz of the Hilario Duran Trio. Treat yourself to relaxation and inspiration, lasting memories, and a unique opportunity to nourish your spirit through the shared joy of music.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

Treat yourself to a Festival Pass and SAVE! Only $200 to hear all the music, PLUS enjoy exclusive access to a special pass holders only concert!

Passes and tickets are available through the Roxy Box Office:
519 371-2833 | boxoffice@roxytheatre.ca
251 9th St. East, Owen Sound, ON, N4K 1N8

Tuesday-Friday 10am-2pm
Saturday-Monday CLOSED

YOUR 2025 FESTIVAL PASS INCLUDES:

SweetWater Pass Holders Concert

NEW THIS YEAR

An awe inspiring evening of music and fun exclusively for our festival pass holders! You'll hear SweetWater artists perform the chamber music you love and be delighted by some special surprises along the way.

Wednesday, September 17, 7:00pm
Surprise Venue

Thursday, September 18, 7:00pm
Harmony Centre
890 4th Avenue East, Owen Sound, ON

Moira Smiley & The Rhizome Quartet

Singer, composer, and song-collector Moira Smiley has sung in arenas, cathedrals, kitchens, back porches, sound stages, and on glaciers. She’s performed with the likes of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, New World Symphony, and The Lyris String Quartet.

Chamber Music Under A Starry Sky

Friday, September 19, 7:00pm
Historic Leith Church
419134 Tom Thomson Lane, Leith, ON

Enjoy a lantern-lit evening of chamber music in beautiful Leith Church featuring our SweetWater festival artists. Plus enjoy a reception for the entire audience after the concert!

Castle in the Sky: Where Voices and Instruments Meet

Saturday, September 20, 7:00pm
Georgian Shores United Church
997 4th Avenue East, Owen Sound, ON

This moving evening of music will explore the play of music with and without words.

Late Night Jazz
with Hilario Duran Trio

Saturday, September 20, 9:30pm
Harmony Centre
890 4th Avenue East, Owen Sound, ON

Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante

Sunday, September 21, 3:00pm
Meaford United Church
7 Boucher Street East, Meaford, ON

Our epic not-to-be-missed festival finale will feature Keith Hamm (viola) and Edwin Huizinga (violin) and friends performing Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante and more.

Meet the Musicians

Horn

Pianist
Cuban born Hilario Durán grew up in Havana in a musical family surrounded by a variety of diverse musical influences on a daily basis. Hilario Durán toured worldwide and performed with Dizzy Gillespie and Michel Legrand, among many others, as part of Arturo Sandoval’s band where he was pianist/keyboardist, arranger and musical director for 9 years.
Since arriving in Canada in 1998, Hilario has made a name for himself, he is a multi-Canadian Juno Award winner and nominee, an American Grammy nominee, a multi-Canadian National Jazz Award winner & nominee and the proud recipient of the 2007 Chico O’Farrill Lifetime Achievement Award, from Latin Jazz USA, for his outstanding contributions to Afro-Cuban Jazz and Latin Jazz.

Violist
With equal facility as both a violist and period violinist, Emily Eng enjoys a diverse musical life in chamber ensembles and orchestras with either gut or steel at her fingertips. Her work has included engagements with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Ballet Orchestra, Academy Concert Series, Soundstreams, the Toronto Consort, the Canadian Opera Company, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Outside of the wild world of freelancing, Ms. Eng has a full studio of private violin students whom she is mentoring as the next generation of classical music lovers. She has been training in martial arts since 2001 and is a licensed practitioner of Thai massage.

Guitarist
Classical guitarist Brendan Evans has performed, taught, and won awards throughout North America and around the world. A Rockport, Massachusetts native, Brendan performs and teaches locally and internationally, is the founder of the Cape Ann Guitar Society, and enjoys playing in various groups, including the original project Night Owls. Brendan holds a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in classical guitar performance from the Oberlin and San Francisco Conservatories. While pursuing his undergraduate degree Brendan spent a year studying flamenco guitar in the cities of Granada and Cordoba, Spain.

Composer in Residence/Cellist
India Gailey (she/they) is an award-winning Canadian cellist, composer, vocalist, and improviser. She draws from many eras and genres to craft poetic narratives of sound, most often performing in the realms of classical and experimental music. Named by CBC as one of “30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30,” India has toured across the Western hemisphere as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborator. She frequently works with living composers, filmmakers, dancers, visual artists, and musicians of various stripes to create works of exploratory art.

Pianist/Soprano
Rachel Fenlon offers “an extremely personal way of presenting music of the traditional recital canon… and brings spontaneous, relevant, and impromptu feeling” to well-loved music. (Schmopera) She tours internationally as a recitalist, as a solo pianist and singer, and on the opera stage. For the Coast Recital Society, she presents Franz Schubert’s “Die Winterreise”, a sublime song cycle that takes listeners on a musical journey through the landscape of unrequited love.Praised for her “unusually shaped recitals in keeping with her extraordinary talent” Fenlon was born in the UK, raised on the west coast of Canada, and is now based in Berlin.

Bassist
Jordan has performed worldwide with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He is a former member of L’Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona, and is a current member of the American Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra. Jordan is Principal Bass of the Westchester Philharmonic, Little Orchestra Society, and the Carmel Bach Festival Orchestra. Jordan has also performed as Principal Bass with the St. Paul and Australian Chamber Orchestras, as well as the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Symphonies, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, among many others.

Violist
Keith Hamm was principal violist of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra for eight seasons. In 2019, Keith joined the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra as principal violist. Keith has performed at the Ravinia Festival, with the Royal Conservatory’s Grammy-nominated ARC Ensemble, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Ottawa Chamberfest, Stratford Summer Music, Sweetwater Music Festival, Edmonton Recital Society and Music By The Sea in Bamfield, BC. Keith is Founder and Artistic Director of the Rosebud Chamber Music Festival in Rosebud, Alberta and co-founder of the Rosebud String Quartet.

Cellist
In 2019, Julie joined the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Principal Cello. Previously, she held the same position in the Quebec Symphony Orchestra. Julie has been broadcast on CBC Radio 2 and Radio-Canada. Julie has performed in festivals across North America, including Music By The Sea in Bamfield, Sweetwater Music Festival, Rosebud Chamber Music Festival, Rendez-vous musical de Laterrière in Saguenay, and Rockport Music Festival. Julie is currently a member of the Polyphonie String Quartet and she cofounded The New Cohort, a viola and cello ensemble.

Violinist
Edwin Huizinga is an accomplished violinist, a fiddler, a composer, and an improviser. Along with his role as SweetWater Artistic Director (he assumed this position in October 2019), he performs regularly with the folk and baroque duo Fire & Grace and internationally-acclaimed early music, 12-piece baroque ensemble ACRONYM.
He has performed with orchestras and ensembles worldwide including Carmel Bach Festival, Amsterdam Conservatory, Baroque Orchestra, and Tafelmusik. Huizinga has released numerous recordings including Partita Americana, fusing classical and bluegrass music. He premiered a new composition commissioned by Opera Atelier for soprano Measha Brueggergosman in late October 2020.
This coming year he will premiere another composition commissioned by the National Arts Centre. Huizinga is also Baroque and Classical Academy Director for the Carmel Bach Festival.
Edwin Huizinga’s performances at SweetWater 2023 are generously sponsored by the SweetWater Music Festival’s Board of Directors.

Violinist
Sheila Jaffé was born into a musical family in Montreal, Canada. She grew up in south Florida, where she was initiated to the violin at the age of six by her grandmother, a music teacher from northern Quebec. Sheila has performed and participated in many festivals including Domaine Forget in Quebec, Valhalla Summer Music in British Columbia, Toronto Summer Music Festival, New York String Orchestra Seminar, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, International Musicians Seminar and Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove in England and Aurora in Sweden.

Drummer
Originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, Canadian drummer & composer, Mark Kelso has made Mississauga, ON his home for quite some time. Not only is he a skilled musician who plays drums and percussion, he is also a singer, educator, producer, composer and martial artist as well. As a sideman, Mark has earned four JUNO awards. As a bandleader, he has been nominated four times with his original Jazz groups; TheJazz Exiles (2016 & 2023), the Chronicles of Fezziwig (2020) and again in 2025 for his Mystic Isle Project. Mark is currently in his 10th year as Artistic Director for the Jazz Room in Waterloo and was previously the head of percussion at Humber College from 2005-2021. His latest recording “The Antrim Coast” was released in May of 2024 and features songs dedicated to his father Sam, Northern Ireland and his childhood memories of living there.

Violinist
Emily Nebel enjoys a varied performing career as orchestral leader and chamber musician.
Currently, she is Assistant Concertmaster of the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Associate Concertmaster of the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center. Over the years she has appeared as guest concertmaster with a range of opera companies such as the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, Staatstheater Darmstadt, Welsh National Opera and Opera North. Emily regularly works with symphonic orchestras as well, guest leading ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Royal Scottish National Orchestra, to name a few.

Bassist
Roberto Occhipinti is diversity personified. He’s won awards and acclaim as a musician, composer and record producer. Throughout his career, the Toronto-born bassist has performed in classical orchestras, jazz ensembles, Latin groups, rhythm & blues outfits and rock bands. He has worked in theatre and opera, written for radio and television, played on film soundtracks and done more recording session jobs than he can remember. To call the hard-working musician versatile would be the height of understatement.

Oboist
Praised for his “sensuous and exuberant” performances, Aleh Remezau joined the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra in 2020 as Principal Oboe. Mr. Remezau has also appeared with the National Ballet Orchestra of Canada, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, as well as guest principal oboe with the Canadian Opera Company. He appears regularly with the Esprit Orchestra, performing as both Principal Oboist and solo English horn. Aleh is a member of The Happenstancers, an adventurous Toronto-based chamber ensemble focused on combining cutting-edge repertoire with expressive works from the traditional canon. Aleh was born in Minsk and began his musical studies on piano. He completed his Master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music and has performed numerous times on oboe and English horn with the New York Philharmonic, appearing on their 2017 Grammy nominated recording of Christopher Rouse’s Symphony No. 4.

Singer/Composer
Singer, composer, and song-collector Moira Smiley has sung in arenas, cathedrals, kitchens, back porches, sound stages, and on glaciers. She’s performed with the likes of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Tune-Yards, Tim O’Brien, Eric Whitacre, Los Angeles Master Chorale, New World Symphony, Solas, and The Lyris String Quartet. Moira’s original compositions, choral arrangements, and folk music are being sung by millions of voices around the world today.

Horn
Micajah Sturgess is a freelance French horn player who enjoys a vibrant and varied musical career. He’s been fortunate to work with almost every major orchestra across Canada and is proud of the personal relationships established through music making. Micajah’s work can be found on many critically acclaimed recordings including Jeremy Dutcher’s Juno nominated Motelwolonuwok, The Polaris nominated Part-Time Woman by Vivek Shraya & The Queer Songbook Orchestra, and the Juno Nominated Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Bruno Weil. Micajah released his first self-produced EP, The Horn in The Library in 2023 and is excited to continue exploring in the studio.

Oboist
A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Beverly has served as the Principal Oboe of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra since 2013, and is consistently recognized for her technical precision, rich tone, and expressive artistry. She has regularly been invited to perform as a guest oboist for major orchestras across North America including most recently, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and National Arts Centre Orchestra, among others. Beverly also appears frequently as a soloist with recent highlights including performances of Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante, Martinu’s Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra, and Mozart’s Oboe Concerto.