Indian-inspired music at Nuit Blanche takes centre stage at the Aga Khan Museum
Toronto’s Nuit Blanche 2025 is bringing a distinctly Indian cultural flavour to its all-night celebration through Circle of Sound: An Immersive Musical Journey, presented at the Aga Khan Museum. Created by JUNO Award–winning producer, composer, and engineer Justin Gray, this headline installation weaves Indian classical melody into a global contemporary framework, turning the museum’s gardens into a soundscape where East meets West.
Music that transcends boundaries
Gray’s work, Repose, unfolds in three dimensions—placing the audience at the centre of a live musical experience. Surrounded by a circle of artists performing toward them, attendees will feel part of the performance rather than mere observers. The event features some of Toronto’s most celebrated performers, including Suba Sankaran, Bageshree Vaze, Pankaj Mishra, Naghmeh Farahmand, Drew Jurecka, Todd Pentney, Andrew Kay, Jonathan Kay, Noam Lemish, Majd Sukar, Derek Gray, and Ed Hanley.
Circle of Sound fuses Indian classical melody, jazz improvisation, and cinematic visuals—an homage to how music transcends language and culture. It’s a bold example of how Indian traditions continue to shape Toronto’s creative landscape.
Qasida Al Burda: a spiritual complement
Another standout feature of Nuit Blanche 2025 at the Aga Khan Museum is Qasida Al Burda, a moving musical and poetic presentation based on the celebrated Arabic ode praising the Prophet Muhammad. Blending devotional verse with musical arrangement, this piece echoes the event’s central theme—Translating the City—by illustrating how art serves as a bridge between heritage and modern expression. Together, these performances showcase how faith, music, and identity intertwine across global communities.
What is Nuit Blanche?
Nuit Blanche is Toronto’s signature overnight art festival, held annually since 2006, transforming public and private spaces into temporary galleries and stages. Artists, musicians, and performers fill the city from dusk till dawn, inviting audiences to explore creativity beyond conventional boundaries.
For Toronto’s artistic community, Nuit Blanche isn’t just an event—it’s a statement about inclusion, experimentation, and the power of art to reshape how we experience urban life. For audiences, it’s a rare opportunity to wander the city at night and discover installations that speak every artistic language—from digital to devotional, from urban to classical.
With Circle of Sound anchoring this year’s lineup, Nuit Blanche 2025 offers not just a visual feast but an auditory celebration—a symphony of global influences led by an unmistakable Indian rhythm.