Running from July 23 to August 2 this year, Ottawa Chamberfest‘s 2026 summer festival programming is led by the North American premiere of the internationally acclaimed Odesa Classics: Festival in Exile.
Founded in 2015 by pianist Alexey Botvinov, the celebration of Ukrainian music, artists and cultural spirit has continued on in exile following Russia’s full-scale invasion of its home city in 2022 — and now, Chamberfest is bringing it to Canada.
Uniting Ukrainians and Canadians (and Ukrainian-Canadians) in collaboration, Odesa Classics’ all-Ukrainian program features the North American debut of Valentyn Silvestrov’s new piano trio, as well as works by Poleva, Karamanov and Barvinsky.
Taking the stage at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre on July 25 will be festival founder Botvinov, Anna Pompeeva, Ihor Mostivoi, Carissa Klopoushak, Gryphon Trio (Roman Boris, Annalee Patipatanakoon and Jamie Parker), Emily Kruspe and Sam Loeck. Concluding in a particularly moving fashion, the concert draws to a close with Myroslav Skoryk’s Melody in A Minor, performed alongside displaced Ukrainian musicians living in the Outaouais region.
Elsewhere in Chamberfest’s expansive summer programme are more performances by Canadian and international artists alike, including a semi-staged presentation of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, created collaboratively with Toronto’s Opera Atelier and starring Measha Brueggergosman-Lee, as well as the Ottawa debut of the Poiesis String Quartet and Council, the indie-classical project of violinist Pekka Kuusisto and singer-songwriter Gabriel Kahane.
You’ll also be able to catch pianists Jon Kimora Parker, Philip Chiu and Janelle Fung, plus the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Ottawa’s own Ironwood Quartet, the Chamberfest Camerata, a complete performance of Elvis Costello’s The Juliet Letters, and more.
Tickets for Odesa Classics — and the rest of this year’s Chamberfest summer season presentations — are on sale now. Find the full programming details via the Ottawa Chamberfest website.