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This year's UTNMF2026 offered an outstanding line up of concerts, masterclasses, lectures, and workshops celebrating contemporary music at multiple University of Toronto venues.
Festival coordinator, Norbert Palej is an internationally recognized Polish Canadian composer, conductor and pianist. He is Professor and Head of composition department at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music.
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The 2026 UTNMF marked your 17th festival. Are you satisfied with outcome of the 2026 edition?
“I am deeply satisfied with how the 2026 UTNMF turned out: we welcomed extraordinary musicians from distant countries such as Norway and Poland, and Vivian Fung was a wonderful featured composer. Nature challenged us with extreme temperatures and a snowstorm to boot, but we didn’t let that deter us — we powered through!”
Sinfonia Toronto's concert 'Four Centuries' Included two world premieres: 'Mene Mene' for solo oboe andorchestra by Norbert Palej and 'Fantasia: Conjure You' for solo cello and strings by David Jaeger. Featured the acclaimed erlin Philharmonic oboist Christoph Hartmann and Canadian cello virtuoso Noémie Raymond.
I asked Palej how did he feel about his world premiere Mene Mene’?
‘I was very nervous about this work because it is probably my most daring one todate. It demands extreme endurance and focus from the ensemble, an unusually restrained mode of participation from the soloist, and it challenges the audience with its unconventional proportions and obsessive minimal material.
The first rehearsal I attended made me even more worried, as it revealed just how strenuous Mene Mene was for the performers. Yet, as it turned out, they were saving their strength and energy for the concert: Sinfonia Toronto and oboe virtuoso Christoph Hartmann delivered a performance more emotionally charged and intense than I could have dreamed of.”
Palej commented that he is looking forward to next year festival and he already havea sense of who might visit in 2027, but most of the programs are still taking shape.
