ረብሻ(Rebsha) is the Ethio-ambient duo created by Feven Kidane and Nebyu Yohannes. Delighted to be invited to Soundweavings at Banff Centre, Kidane and Yohannes fuse their background in ambient and Black American music with their East African heritage, generating a sonic landscape stretching from sub-Saharan Africa to the Pacific Northwest. ረብሻ’s dedication to decolonization while recognizing cultural tradition as members of the Ethiopian diaspora is paramount to their work. With Kidane and Yohannes on a mix of brass, strings, and their recent learnings of traditional Ethiopian instruments, the pair blend acoustic and electronic textures to score the memories of their ancestors (Tizita) and carry these lifetimes into the present, holding them under the light of today’s world.

reb·sha: 
noun
1. noise, riot, disturbance.

Recipient of Michael Davies Scholarship Endowment Fund.

STATHIS//DAVEY//KIM are a Melbourne based collective of three female composers who have an extensive multi-instrumental practice including the use of analogue synthesizers. Their practice spans large scale fully immersive sound installations, to live electronic music performance.

SDK’s site-responsive installations are presented in expansive settings where nature and human-made structures co-exist. They interact with site by using features present (rock faces, bodies of water and architecture) as surfaces from which to bounce sound off, creating delays and rhythms. Furthermore the trio incorporate diegetic sounds as key voices in the work, allowing them to work with, instead of overriding the environment.

Stathis//Davey//Kim’s sound is presented in multi-channel diffusion, sonically mapping a new awareness of the physical space. Audiences are placed directly into the center of their sound worlds, as the work shifts and moves around them. Conceptually Stathis//Davey//Kim explore the paradoxes of site, the beauty and sparseness, the functional and the fantastical, natural and manufactured and in all this question human’s impact on ecologies. Their work allows audiences to experience a unique aspect of site, where sound, nature and architecture interact. For audiences, these types of singular sonic experiences bond the location to memory through the extraordinary experience of immersive sound and music.

Recipient of Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Jay Yoo is a Korean Canadian guitarist and composer based in Toronto, holding both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Jazz Performance from the University of Toronto. Active in both performance and teaching, he draws inspiration from a wide range of genres, collaborating on projects that span jazz, funk, R&B, and musical theatre. Jay is a member of the Korean fusion band Haneum, the award-winning group Snaggle, and leads his own ensembles, including Jay Yoo Group and Next Perfect Day. His discography features the duo album Here, Now (2019) with Jenna Marie Pinard, Dual Unity(2022) with Mark Kazakevich, and the jazz quartet EP Cosmic Latte (2023) from his time in Denmark. He’s also involved in several current collaborations, including Robert Lee’s upcoming album Forbidden West (2025), which blends Korean traditional music influences, and Baejjange, a trio focused on Korean percussion and vocal traditions.

Recipient of Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Chris Votek is an acclaimed cellist, composer, arranger, producer, and sound engineer living and breathing music in Los Angeles. He is a disciple of the legendary Indian violinist Dr. N Rajam, much of his work involves adapting the oral tradition of Hindustani raga to the cello and the cross-pollination of Western and Indian Classical Traditions. 

As an intercultural music translator he has arranged symphonic music with Neelamjit Dhillon for Ustad Zakir Hussain, notably his Triple Concerto for Tabla, Bansuri, and Sitar with orchestra premiered by the Symphony of India in 2023. Votek’s original chamber and electroacoustic compositions have been presented at REDCAT, the Hammer Museum, Clockshop, and SF Soundbox. His string quintet Memories of a Shadow received critical acclaim “superbly blending raga melody with early European polyphony”. 

A sought after touring and studio cellist, Votek has performed or recorded with a diverse array of artists, including Sigur Ros, Julia Holter, PARTCH ensemble, The Marias, Chris Martin, Homayoun Shajarian, Haushka, Father John Misty, Wild Up, Mamak Khadem, Arabic Orchestra MESTO and many others.

Recipient of Cyril and Elizabeth Challice Fund for Musicians.

Sumudi Suraweera (born 1982) received his PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, in 2010, with research focused on Sri Lankan Low-Country traditional drumming. Prior to that, he completed a Bachelor of Music in jazz, specializing in drums.

Based in Sri Lanka since 2010, Sumudi founded Musicmatters, a performance-oriented music school for children that has grown to be one of Colombo's premier music institutions. In 2023, he took on the role of director for the jazz program at the Musicmatters Institute of Jazz Studies, providing jazz education for Sri Lankan youth musicians looking to hone their skills.

As a performer, Sumudi has been actively involved in a range of local projects through the Musicmatters Collective, which is dedicated to fostering an experimental and improvised music scene in Colombo. His own ensembles include Baliphonics, Serendib Sorcerers, Musicmatters Transcoastal Collective, Koku Samagama, and the Musicmatters Trio. His solo drum set recordings also showcase his ongoing exploration and research into adapting traditional Sri Lankan drumming to the drum set.

Recipient of Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

STATHIS//DAVEY//KIM are a Melbourne based collective of three female composers who have an extensive multi-instrumental practice including the use of analogue synthesizers. Their practice spans large scale fully immersive sound installations, to live electronic music performance.

SDK’s site-responsive installations are presented in expansive settings where nature and human-made structures co-exist. They interact with site by using features present (rock faces, bodies of water and architecture) as surfaces from which to bounce sound off, creating delays and rhythms. Furthermore the trio incorporate diegetic sounds as key voices in the work, allowing them to work with, instead of overriding the environment.

Stathis//Davey//Kim’s sound is presented in multi-channel diffusion, sonically mapping a new awareness of the physical space. Audiences are placed directly into the center of their sound worlds, as the work shifts and moves around them. Conceptually Stathis//Davey//Kim explore the paradoxes of site, the beauty and sparseness, the functional and the fantastical, natural and manufactured and in all this question human’s impact on ecologies. Their work allows audiences to experience a unique aspect of site, where sound, nature and architecture interact. For audiences, these types of singular sonic experiences bond the location to memory through the extraordinary experience of immersive sound and music.

Recipient of Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Drawing from Newfoundland folk roots and contemporary jazz influences, Jessica Spurrell is a Toronto-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Her 2024 EP, A Blessing, A Pearl, explores adolescent heartache through striking prose, woodwinds, harp, strings, and synth.

In 2021, Jessica was awarded the SOCAN Foundation Young Canadian Songwriters Award for her song, Bury Me. She was subsequently selected for the 2022 TD Incubator for Creative Entrepreneurship, as well as the 2023 Folk Music Ontario Developing Artist Program. Most recently, Jessica participated in the 2024 Intercultural and Creative Music Fellowship through Humber Polytechnic. Under the creative direction of composer and sitarist Kiya Tabassian, she and 6 other fellows worked for 14 weeks to create an interdisciplinary music project for performance at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.

Jessica thrives on collaboration as a composer, lyricist, and performer. She also has a keen interest in music production and recording technology. Jessica is a recent graduate of the Bachelor of Music program at Humber Polytechnic, where she explored styles such as Jazz and Latin music. Jessica has called many places home, including Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Germany.

Recipient of John W. Kieley Endowment for Emerging Musicians.

Neda Samavati is a composer-guitarist based in London, Ontario. She is currently a PhD candidate in Music Composition at the University of Western Ontario, building on her academic background with an MA in Music Composition from Tehran University of Arts.

In 2024, she was selected as an emerging composer for the Widening the Circle at the Tuckamore Music Festival (2024–2025 season) and received the Future Award from the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, 2024. In 2023, she was commissioned by the Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP) to create a new work inspired by scientific data. In 2020, she reached the semi-finals of the 5th Guitar Composition Competition Fidelio in Spain.

Beyond composition, Neda is an active classical guitarist with a strong interest in ensemble performance and colaborative experimentation. She is always seeking out new artistic experiences that challenge and expand her creative voice.

Her music is shaped by a wide range of interests—including physics, astronomy, literature and painting. She continually finds ways to bring these disciplines into her work, whether through structural inspiration, poetic themes, or visual elements.

Recipient of Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Maryam Rahmani is an Iranian born Santur player who has been living in Adelaide since 2019. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Playing Traditional Music from Tehran University. 

Maryam’s musical journey began with playing Santur when she was 12 years old, and she had the chance to get lessons chest to chest from the masters in Iran. The journey took on a more academic approach when she attended university, which gave her the opportunity to explore various aspects of Iranian classical music.

Passionate to discover her hometowns unique sounds, she started to play Kamancheh which is another bowed string instrument form Iran, and also dutar (Persian word for “two strings”), a traditional lute-like instrument known for its resonant sound from Khorasan(North-East side of Iran), that allowed her to unmask the other side of traditional music.

Enthusiastic about the intricate interplay of rhythm and poetry, Maryam’s love for literature and poetry naturally led her to explore Persian meters and their integration into music. During her university years, she delved into the study of tombak (the Iranian goblet drum), enriching her understanding of rhythm. Fascinated by rhythmic patterns, she also embraced the art of flamenco dance when she came to Adelaide, blending the worlds of Persian and Spanish rhythms in her creative pursuits.

Recipient of Frelyn Memorial Endowment.

George Rahi is an artist and composer based in Vancouver, unceded Coast Salish territories. He works with speculative instruments and technologies as a method of exploring acoustic and digital anomalies, modes of listening, and spatial and architectural thinking. His work includes installations, instrument making, solo + ensemble performance, and works for radio, theatre & public spaces. Recent presentations have included: Artificial Sonification exhibition (Matera), Stavanger Konserthus, Kunst-Station Sankt Peter (Cologne), Fusebox Festival (Austin), Institute for New Music (Salzburg), and Orgelpark (Amsterdam). His work has been supported by awards such as the Lab30 Audience Award, Canada Council for the Arts Guest of Honour (Frankfurt), and through mentorships with artists such as Dewa Alit and Trimpin. He has been an artist in residence at Elektronmusikstudion (Stockholm), Bergen Centre for Electronic Arts, Locus Sonus Research Group (Aix Marseille University), and hcma architecture. He is currently working towards a new album of contemporary gamelan music with Insitu Recordings, an arts collective and recording label based in Bali.

Recipient of Banff Centre Artists' Awards.