The focus of all events is the act of listening. Featuring a mix of local, national and international artists, concerts have featured ensembles from traditional ensembles such as string quartet, orchestra, choir to turntable art, musique actuelle, outdoor electroacoustic events, multi-media and dance. A late night series concentrates on cutting edge work from the world of live electracoustics and improvised music. Concerts are presented indoors and out, in traditional concert halls and churches as well as alternative spaces, including several buildings that had been abandoned for long years and brought to life for the festival. Guest composers and performers have included international artists such as Brian Eno, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Diamanda Galas, Negativland, DJ Spooky, Ikue Mori, Bob Ostertag and Pauline Oliveros as well as Canadians Murray Schafer, Martin Tetrault, Gordon Monahan, Michael Snow, John Oswald, Tim Brady and Hildegarde Westerkamp. A priority of the festival is to also feature local artists — these have included the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, NUMUS Concerts, the Canadian Chamber Ensemble, Dancetheatre David Earle and the Penderecki String Quartet.

Sound installations are an integral part of the festival. The 'inner Ear' festival-within-a-festival presents a variety of work in collaboration with the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, the University of Waterloo School of Architecture and local galleries. Public workshops, symposia and sound walks as well as in-the-school educational events are also an important part of Open Ears, whose outreach involves a huge community effort with literally hundreds of volunteers and professionals involved, from students of local public schools and universities through to professional orchestra musicians, city counselors and local business people.

The festival promotes cross-disciplinary enhancement and the strengthening of the artistic community through joint projects. It has encouraged urban renewal through the reinvestigation of alternative spaces and experiencing the city’s architecture in a different context. In 1999 we were given an award by the Kitchener downtown business association for our work in helping renew the troubled downtown Kitchener core. In 2008, the City of Kitchener identified Open Ears as one of its 'pillar' festivals. In 2009 we were recognized with a KW Arts Awards.

This is the festival for people who play digital sticks and Halo, suspended electric guitars, turntables and accordions, jazz and violins and rainforests and pianos (and pianos that play themselves).
This is the festival for an orchestra made of laptops and a regular one — no strings attached.
This is the festival for groups to take very very old music which is Korean and make it very very new and still Korean and then blow your mind.
This is the festival for legendary drone artists, Inuit throat singers, warped-out easy-listening deities and sample abusers and gamers who are secretly into ballet and a Quebecois street band that think they're from the 1930s.
This is the festival for people who write and spin and hear and knit and draw and breathe and program and perform and steal sound.
And this is the festival for you.

Artists include Tony Conrad, Tanya Tagaq, People Like Us, John Oswald & Susanna Hood, Matt Rogalsky, Toca Loca and more.