We’re very fortunate to start off the festival with a special elder blessing, taking place on Wednesday, June 17 at Central United Church. The ceremony starts at 5:30pm ahead of the Laraaji and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe show.

Laraaji A living legend of ambient electronic music, Laraaji has crafted spellbinding new age music for nearly five decades. His audio incantations explore the possibilities of electro/acoustic instrumentation, and are tinged with mysticism and spirituality.

Born in 1943 as Edward Larry Gordon, Laraaji attended Howard University in Washington D.C. and studied composition and piano. In the ‘70s, Laraaji was initiated as a swami, and began to merge music with lifelong Eastern spiritual practice. After buying a zither from a pawn shop and converting it to an electronic instrument, Laraaji began busking with improvised jams in Washington Square Park. This is how he was discovered by Brian Eno in 1979, who offered to produce him on the spot.…