Nocturnes In the City

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The organisation started in 2001 as Nocturnes at Masaryktown to present Czech and Slovak artists to Canadian audiences.

Initially, the concerts were held at Prague restaurant, and after a few years moved to the Czech community centre in downtown Toronto - located at St. Wenceslaus Church at 496 Gladstone Avenue. In the past 20 years, we presented singers Eva Urbanova, Zdenek Plech, John Holland, Gustav Belacek and others, Panocha, Prazak, Zemlinsky quartets, instrumentalists Anton Kubalek, Boris Krajny, David Kalhous, Ivan Zenaty, Radim Zenkl and others, as well as musical lectures about Karel Ancerl and operatic audio visual presentation by Iain Scott.

For the upcoming season - starting in October - the Zemlinsky Quartet from Prague with clarinettist Peter Stoll present Mozart’s clarinet quintet and Dvorak’s American quartet. For the celebration of the birth of Czechoslovakia, the pianist Jan Cmejla presents works by Janacek, Dvorak and Chopin. In November, we have an operatic program from Prague (John Holland, bass baritone) and a classical jazz concert in December (MIro Letko), and for spring 2024, we present mandolinist and guitarist Radim Zenkl, as well as duo pianists from Prague (TBA). Concerts are of the highest quality and entertaining, with catering always to follow.