As the snow falls and the cold winds howl, new music festivals across the country continue to delight and amaze. This weekend, the Windsor Symphony Orchestra wraps up the Windsor Canadian Music Festival, a celebration of community and creative partnerships in Windsor, Ontario.

The festival is a joint effort of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra and the University of Windsor School of Music, and features talks, school visits, a conductor/composer workshop, a jam session, panel discussions, chamber music and a full orchestral concert. Over the course of the week, audiences will hear works by Michael Lacroix, Ana Sokolovic, Christien Ledroit, Lee Pui Ming, Claude Vivier, Jim Hiscott, John Burge, Heather Schmidt, and Nicholas Papador – among others. Featured performers include guest conductor Brian Current, soprano Monica Whicher, pianist Lee Pui Ming, tabla artist Shawn Mativetsky, percussion.

And if you’re wondering about the programming philosophy of the festival, here’s how organizers describe it: “Over the last several festivals the WCMF has developed an artistic vision that reflects its commitment to a set of core values. Each year we feature the work of four or five North American composers. Both the WSO and UWindsor music faculty concerts present multiple works by our featured composers. We feature composers from across the country and of different generations, and aim for a diversity of musical styles and voices. The Festival looks for composers who have a mature musical voice and for whom this opportunity will represent a significant step in their artistic development. Of course, we also choose composers that we are confident will compose an engaging new work that will appeal to our local audience.”