Name: Wonderment: Samuel Rohrer (Switzerland), Elisa Thorn, Eva Pekárova, Faun.a and more! @ Cameron Bandshell at Beacon Hill Park - Aug 03, 2025
Start: 2025-08-03T16:00:00-06:00
End: 2025-08-03T22:30:00-06:00
Location: Cameron Bandshell at Beacon Hill Park

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Wonderment: Samuel Rohrer (Switzerland), Elisa Thorn, Eva Pekárova, Faun.a and more!

Free Live Performances featuring the merging of electronic and acoustic sounds

In-Person Event

Music Classical / Baroque / Orchestral Electronic / DJ / Dance Folk / Celtic / Latin / World Jazz / Blues Noise / Experimental / Avant-Garde Choral Visual Arts Digital Art Cultural / Heritage Ethno-Cultural History / Heritage First Peoples / Inuit / Métis

Sun. August 3rd + Add to Calendar

Cameron Bandshell at Beacon Hill Park (All Ages)

4:00pm - 10:30pm Doors at: 4:00pm

Free

Artists

Samuel Rohrer (Switzerland)

Elisa Thorn

from Vancouver BC

Eva Pekárová

faun.a

Zügellos

Lekwungen Traditional Dancers

Ruby Singh's Vox.Infold

Presented by:

Garden City Electronic Music Society

The Garden City Electronic Music Society (previously the Gar...

709 Yates Street Victoria BC

Open / Operational

Wonderment

Victoria BC's pioneering live performance series featuring a...

Victoria BC

Open / Operational

Event Description

~ FREE PERFORMANCES ~

Note: These performances preceded a special live audio-visual presentation of 2022 Juno Nominees Ruby Singh's Vox.Infold featuring Ruby Singh, PIQSIQ, Russell Wallace, Hussein Janmohamed, Tiffany Moses, Piu and Chimerik Visuals. Please see the separate event listing focused on the Vox.Infold performance.

~ SAMUEL ROHRER ~
ECM Records, Arjunamusic
Jazz Percussion & Electronics
From Switzerland

After music and arts studies in Berne and Boston, Samuel Rohrer quickly established himself within the acoustic improvisational scene of continental Europe, working alongside esteemed contemporaries with early releases on the seminal ECM Records imprint before setting up his own label Arjunamusic. His musical journey evolved as he started exploring electronics, working alongside electronic music legends such as Max Loderbauer, Ricardo Villalobos and Tobias Freund – gaining traction with his Ambiq project.

Playing a combination of percussion, modular synthesizer and keyboard-based instruments, Samuel has performed at major jazz festivals around the world. He is a genuinely unique figure within the European music landscape, defining a world of his own by navigating a balance between improvisational acoustic and electronic music forms.

“Rohrer has developed his very own procedures and aesthetics to create a new form of captivating music that is consequently built from the deeper grounds of rhythm…opening up truly new dimensions.” – London Jazz News
https://arjunamusic-records.bandcamp.com/.../music-for...

~ ELISA THORN ~
Polaris Prize Nominee
Harp & Electronics
From Vancouver

Elisa Thorn graduated from the UBC School of Music in 2011, and since that time has become a much sought after addition to the Canadian creative music scene, known for her skilled use of extended techniques, electronic effects, and unconventional uses of harp.

Her music, which combines influences of post-rock, jazz, classical and indie, is propelled by two artistic objectives: firstly, how to create music that is both abstract and accessible; and secondly, how to lead a band with harp in a way does not compromise sensitivity with it’s boldness, or aesthetic beauty with it’s curiosity.

Interested in the intersection between composed and improvised music, she is involved with many projects including HUE, The Giving Shapes and Gentle Party, who released an album under the Phonometrograph label that was longer-listed for the Polaris Prize in 2017.

~ EVA PEKÁROVÁ ~
Fujara (Slovakian Shepherd's Flute) & Electronics
From Vancouver

Eva Pekárová is a Film Composer, Musician, and Multidisciplinary Artist based in Vancouver, Canada. Originally from the small town of Piešťany, Slovakia, she began her piano studies there at the age of 4.

Eva’s diverse background drives her to be interested in and tackle a wide range of genres and instrumentation in her musical practice. She is most interested in innovating musical genres with the unexpected, playing with musical boundaries, and is known for her melodically strong work. Currently, she is in the finalizing stages of an innovative album focusing on traditional Eastern European Instruments while taking on various film projects.

Eva has a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art and Design with a specialization in Film, Video, + Integrated Media. She has also studied film scoring and worked with a live orchestra under Vasilis Milesis in Athens, Greece. Her extensive research and professional engagement with film production gives her a unique edge as a film composer.

Eva’s current project is an album giving voice to traditional Slavic Instruments, particularly the Fujara from her home country of Slovakia. Eva’s creative approach to the music in this album involves a commitment to innovation through genre and instrumental application.

The Fujara holds great cultural significance to Eva’s home country, and is tied to both folk music and ancient hand-crafting techniques. Folk instruments should be protected and they should have the opportunity to evolve in new ways as music evolves as well. Eva hopes that by innovating their application her album will serve to both share it with diverse audiences and create space for the Fujara on the modern stage.

By reimagining the traditional instruments of our past in ways that elevate their importance for our future, Eva imagines a collaborative coming together of musicians and audiences alike. To celebrate our diverse backgrounds, deepen our appreciation, and creatively approach the way we interact with ancient instruments moving forward.

~ FAUN.A ~

Faun.a is a musician combining organic and electronic instruments with our environments, to create songs to daydream to.. Started as a looping project in 2017, faun.a continually shifts and shapes into new forms, using atomospheric sound as the template. Currently exploring the sounds that surround us and attaching them through geopoetics, relationship to land, adding to the ever expanding noise.

~ ZÜGELLOS ~

Originally from Galicia way back when the shtetles still stood, Zügellos roamed the countryside until retiring to the far reaches of a land called Lekwungen. Here the fair peoples sold and rationed out their own herbal remedies unworried about the dark times behind them, or the dark times ahead. In this environment, Zügellos found their calling – altering waveshapes and ear canals for the pleasures of the unknown.

~ Lək̓ʷəŋən Traditional Dancers ~

The Story of the Lək̓ʷəŋən Traditional Dancers as told by Lyla Dick.

Back in 1978, late uncle Ray Peter from the Cowichan tribe started the dance group at the friendship centre along with our late father Jim and late Bob Malcom and uncles Butch and Skip Dick. He taught us the songs we use today and still sing them the way he did.

That group stayed together for about 5 years and then stopped. Our Dad and Mom didn’t want it to stop so they brought it home to here and started teaching some of our family around here. It was then that late Flora Joseph gave mom and dad the Paddle Welcome song.

After dad passed in 1999, Mom (Bernadette) wanted us to keep going on with the group because it was important to her and Dad to keep it breathing and alive. So today, under Momma’s guidance, we (Lyla and Beth) keep the group going strong over the last few years. With many performances like the recent Royal Tour, we’ve been able to perform for the Queen as well when she was here a few years back and other government officials along with schools at all levels and festivals.

There are about 25 in our group when we are all together, the youngest being Baby Jesse at 8 and Momma being our oldest going to be 79 this year, truly blessed we are to have her along with all the amazing kids.

The group is highly sought after to represent the Lək̓ʷəŋən people at significant events throughout the region. They have performed to welcome visiting royalty, the Lieutenant Governor and the Prime Minister, Mayor and Councils and many others. One of their favourite performances is to greet Indigenous people from around the world.

~ ~ ~

Beacon Hill Park is Victoria's largest park located between the James Bay and Cook Street Village neighbourhoods, roughly a 15-minute walk from downtown, 5-minute walk from the Legislature (which is a major bus terminus, including the #70 and #72 routes from the BC Ferry Terminal). Parking is limited in the park, so we encourage alternate modes of transportation. Additional handicap parking will be created by the City of Victoria in the traffic loop on the east side of Douglas Street across from 250 Douglas Street near Avalon Road. There will be no concession on site, so please ensure you bring enough water and food for your stay. Please help the festival volunteers with clean-up after the event and "pack-it-in-pack-it-out". There are mosquitos around the Cameron Bandshell at dusk, so please also come prepared with insect repellent as needed.

Wonderment takes place on the unceded territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən peoples, the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations. Beacon Hill Park, where this particular event takes place, is traditionally called míqәn (MEE-qan) which means “warmed by the sun”. This seaward slope was a popular place for rest and play – a game similar to field hockey, called Coqwialls, was played here. At the bottom of the hill was a small, palisaded village that was occupied intermittently from 1,000 until approximately 300 years ago. The settlement was here for defence during times of war, and it was also important for reef net fishing. The starchy bulbs of the wildflower, Camas, were an important food source gathered in this area. The hill here is also known as Beacon Hill.

Wonderment 2025 is supported by the Government of Canada, the Province of BC, the BC Arts Council, the Capital Regional District, and the City of Victoria. This event in particular is supported by the Open Space Gallery, who are loaning their high-lumen laser projector and large projection screen for the evening performances. We are also grateful for the supports of Exclaim!, The Georgia Straight, The Capital Daily, DL Sound, Long & McQuade, Modo Carshare Cooperative, Sunbelt Rentals, and the Inn at Laurel Point.

SCHEDULE:
4:00 PM - Lək̓ʷəŋən Traditional Dancers
4:30 PM - Zügellos
5:30 PM - Faun.a
6:30 PM - Eva Pekárová
7:30 PM - Elisa Thorn
8:30 PM - Samuel Rohrer
9:30 PM - Ruby Singh's Vox.Infold
The event ends by 10:30pm

Other FREE All-Ages Wonderment 10th Anniversary Edition Events:
- Saturday, August 2 (4pm-10pm) at Songhees Park Plaza (Johnson St Bridge)
- Monday, August 4 (1pm-7pm) at Banfield Park (521 Craigflower Road / Vic West)

There are also 19+ ticketed night-time dance-oriented Wonderment events on August 2 and August 3 at the Downbeat Event Centre.

Full festival details at www.wonderment.ca