The Vancouver New Music Festival has announced a program of top contemporary string quartets from Italy, the U.S., and across Canada for its event, October 18 to 20.

Vancouver’s Black Dog String Quartet (Elyse Jacobson, Molly MacKinnon, John Kastelic, and Doug Gorkoff) will take the stage all three nights of Quartetti--A Festival of String Quartets. Amid its repertoire, it will be performing works by Navajo-American composer Raven Chacon and participants from Chacon’s Native American Composer Apprentice Project. Chacon will also host a workshop ahead of the concerts, working with local Indigenous youths to create pieces for string quartet that will premiere at the festival.

Other ensembles coming to the 2018 fest are Montreal's Quatuor Bozzini, the U.S.'s JACK Quartet and Mivos Quartet; Italy's Quartetto Maurice andQuartetto Noûs; and Kitchener-Waterloo's Penderecki String Quartet. Concerts take place at the Orpheum Annex.

Watch for more details in programming this summer. Meanwhile, three-night fest passes go on sale Saturday (April 21) at 9 a.m. here.