Savant Flaneur

About

Oft referred to as “chamber punk,” Savant Flaneur expels the dichotomy between western art music and colloquial music scenes.  Savant Flaneur is the idle virtuosi, ambivalent wunderkind, aimless and gifted. Savant Flaneur is an experimental music collective working on Treaty 1 Territory. 

Founded in 2014 by Winnipeg artist, filmmaker, self-taught organist and composer Scott Leroux along with Nathan Krahn. They made DIY neo-minimalist works for small ensemble at local dive bars, after hours in small galleries, basement shows. Multi-instrumentalist and composer Gage Salnikowski joined the group in 2015. Tragically, in late 2016, was the sudden passing of founding member Scott Leroux.  Savant Flaneur continues their work in Leroux’s legacy and philosophy of music making.

Savant Flaneur strives toward originality and an encompassing approach to art. In their roles as composer-improvisors, Krahn and Salnikowski create ambitious and exploratory works without isolating themselves in ivory towers of orchestral music scenes. Since it’s re-invention, Savant Flaneur’s music eliminates the inherent inaccessibility of western art music. From a cultural standpoint, we remove the ostentation and social elitism surrounding orchestral music allowing it to be adopted by a wider more diverse audience.

In their installation work this reconciling of art and audience is accomplished in part through participation, subverting audience-artist hierarchies by inviting everyone to become a co-creator. Most recently, in their 2025 installation Psst! thousands of art-goers whispered secrets into a large fabric surrealist ear, these recordings were then slowed down, pitch-corrected and combined into a 16-voice drone chant. In their Ludochroma I and II a modular eight-part score was written based on subtractive primary colour mixing principles and chromesthesia associations, then audience members controlled lighting on three small stages, which in turn was interpreted by performers.  Their artworks for Nuit Blanche 2023, 2024, and 2025, collectively were seen and interacted with by approximately 50,000 people who each played a role in co-creation.

Collaboration is central to Savant Flaneur’s goal to bring their brand of avant-garde to broader communities, not solely in presentation, but through creation.  They have worked with composers Liew Niyomkarn, Yannis Kyrakides, Princess Dasha, Zoe LeBrun, Polaris Prize Winner Zoon, architect Joe Kalturnyk, Canada’s Poet Laureate Chimwemwe Undi, along with workshops for school-aged composers, dancers, and artists.