NOTE: All times are Eastern Time unless otherwise noted.
DAILY LISTINGS FOR OCTOBER
Oct 01-18: Music Gallery. X Avant XV: Transmissions. Curated by Pratishtha Kohli and Olivia Shortt. All events FREE to stream. All shows will be available to stream online and will be a mix of on and off-site concerts produced by the Music Gallery; Still located at 918 Bathurst Centre for Culture, Arts, Media and Education. Further information available here.
Oct 09 12:00 noon: Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra. SPOGreatMusic Performance S41E01. New music performances by members and friends of the SPO. Full performance details available here.
Oct 09 7:00: TD Niagara Jazz Festival. LIVEstream.LOVE.JAZZ Series #41 with Bill Mays. Interested but can't attend? ALL our livestreamed performances are available at our Facebook page and our YouTube channel. Enjoy this performance with our compliments. Donations in support of our Festival and our artists are gratefully accepted here. See our full LIVEstream.LOVE.WORLD.Series Lineup here.
Oct 09 8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. KWS Goes Online: Fly Me to the Moon - Sinatra and Beyond. Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, conductor; Michael Vanhevel, vocalist. In a tribute to the world’s greatest crooners, singer Michael Vanhevel and the KWS take you on a sentimental journey of crooner classics including songs like Fly Me to the Moon, Unforgettable, The Way You Look Tonight and so many more. Purchase tickets here.
Oct 10 8:00: Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Kannamma: A Concert of Thanksgiving. From Bach to the Beatles, from visual arts to dance to drumming to singing this concert of thanksgiving brings together an amazing group of artists in a program of choral music and more that evocatively expresses gratitude. TMC Associate Conductor Simon Rivard and Guest Curator Suba Sankaran have put together a diverse program that brings together songs of thanks, gratitude and love, spanning several centuries, multiple genres and disciplines that cross cultures. Works will include European classical to jazz to pop to South Indian Karnatak music, to refreshing original compositions, complemented by visual arts and dance performance. Program is free to view but please consider a donation in support of our online programming during the pandemic. Enjoy the concert here.
Oct 11 3:00: Danny Michel. Live From Lockdown: Thanksgiving Weekend Show. Tickets are $15. Danny has set aside 25 tickets for those who are not in a position to purchase a ticket but would like to be a part of this event. If that's you, then email info@dannymichel.com with the subject "Guestlist Oct 11". No explanations necessary and no questions asked. Visit here to buy tickets.
NEW!! Oct 11 7:30: CAMMAC. In Heaven It Is Always Autumn. This exclusive Thanksgiving concert will be performed by The Gesualdo Six, a vocal ensemble comprised of some of the UK’s finest young consort singers, directed by Owain Park. For information visit here.
NEW!! Oct 12 12:15: Music Mondays. Duo Cavatine: Parfums de Paris. From Couperin to Poulenc, Duo Cavatine (Noémie Raymond-Friset, cello and Michel-Alexandre Broekaert, piano) present a program which combines pieces that are central to their collaboration including new musical discoveries and pieces from the standard repertoire bringing together some of the most hauntingly beautiful and innovative French musical masterpieces. The music ranges from quirky humor to celestial atmosphere and covers more than 400 years of French musical tradition. Visit here to enjoy this concert.
Oct 16 12 noon: Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra. SPOGreatMusic Podcast: Episode 3 - Socially Distanced: Music for a Solo Instrument: J.S. Bach Plus.. Featuring interviews with special guests. Host: Dr. Daniel Mehdizadeh. Find links and further information at our website here.
Oct 16. Tafelmusik. Baroque for Baby. A kid-friendly playlist curated by violinist and mother of two, Cristina Zacharias. Selections from renowned Tafelmusik recordings include music by Telemann, Purcell, Lully, Vivaldi, Handel, Monteverdi, Rameau, Merula, Sweelink, and Marais. Zacharias’s choices balance enlivening, energetic music that encourages children to move and dance with calming, quieter pieces for bedtime. More information is available here.
Oct 17 7:00-8:00: FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. Gord's Legacy: A Free Virtual Experience to Honour Gord Downie. FREE. For more Information, visit here.
Oct 17 7:00: Guitar Society of Toronto. Online Recital: Austin Wahl. Registration is required in advance here. A suggested donation of $20 can be made during registration.
Oct 17 7:00: New Adventures in Sound Art/Charles Street Video. Endosymbiosis: Live Electronic Music Performance with Liquid Light Imagery by Robert Fantinatto. A video and improvised electronic music performance which utilizes a variation on the technique of Liquid Light by replacing the overhead projector with a 4K video camera. The improvised music performed by Fantinatto uses a customized modular synthesizer along with slowed-down water sounds. The performance will be live-streamed over YouTube with Q&A discussion taking place afterwards on the Whereby platform. Online Location issued after Advance Registration here.
Oct 17 8:00: Royal Conservatory of Music. The Resounding Concert. A FREE online event. This celebration of music in support of Koerner Hall and The Royal Conservatory of Music will include performances by Chinese superstar pianist Lang Lang, celebrated American-Canadian soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, young Canadian pianist and an alumnus of the Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School Jan Lisiecki, Indian tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain in an exclusive improvised jam session with the world’s reigning rhythm section, Canadian concert violinist and violist James Ehnes, Cuban-Canadian singer-songwriter Alex Cuba, and award-winning British violinist Daniel Hope. The evening will also include appearances by Hollywood star Meryl Streep and Buffy Sainte-Marie, the legendary Cree singer-songwriter who has been a trailblazer, a disruptor of the status quo, as well as a recipient of an Honorary Fellowship from The Royal Conservatory. The livestream is available here.
Oct 18 2:00: TD Niagara Jazz Festival. LIVEstream.LOVE.WORLD Series #09 with Juneyt. Interested but can't attend? ALL of our livestreamed performances are available at our Facebook page and our YouTube channel. Enjoy this performance with our compliments. Donations in support of our Festival and our artists are gratefully accepted here. See our full lineup here.
Oct 18 7:00: Canzona Chamber Players. Sean Rice & Anna Petersen, Clarinet / Oboe Duo. See the concert here. In lieu of a concert ticket, donations to the St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation COVID-19 Courage Fund, in Memory of Elizabeth Krehm, can be made here.
NEW!! Oct 18 8:00: New Music Concerts. Virtually Yours: Anima. Sanya Eng, harp; Ryan Scott, percussion. Link to be provided at a future date.
Oct 22 8:00: Tafelmusik. Passions of the Soul. A livestreamed event curated and directed by Elisa Citterio. Bliss, grief, delight: experience a kaleidoscope of emotions with 18th-century music that will open your heart and mind. This concert is a microcosm of our season theme, “Passions of the Soul.” Works featured include Lalande’s Chaconne (inspired by the magnificent fountains of Versailles), Locatelli’s Sinfonia Funebre, and Telemann’s suite La Bourse, an irreverent depiction of the roller-coaster of emotions experienced by investors in the stock market. Single ticket purchasers will be able to re-access the concert for a full 24 hours after the original broadcast time. You can revisit your ticket link, contained in your confirmation email, to watch until October 23, 2020 at 7:59pm. $30 + service fees. Box Office: 1-833-964-6337. Visit our website here.
Oct 23 12 noon: Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra. SPO Music Performance S41E02. New music performances by members and friends of the SPO. Full performance details and links can be found here. Today's theme: Socially Distanced: Music for a Solo Instrument, J.S. Bach Plus.
Oct 23 7:00: TD Niagara Jazz Festival. LIVEstream.LOVE.JAZZ Series #43 with Jay Reed. Interested but can't attend? ALL of our livestreamed performances are available at our Facebook page and our YouTube channel. Enjoy this performance with our compliments. Donations in support of our Festival and our artists are gratefully accepted here. See our full lineup here.
Oct 23 8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. KWS Goes Online: Schubert and the Swedish Mozart. Andrei Feher, conductor. Kraus: Symphony in c; Schubert: Symphony No .5 in B-flat. Kraus has often been referred to as “the Swedish Mozart,” and while a talented composer in his own right, is overshadowed in popular memory by his famous contemporary. His Symphony in C is stormy and dramatic, full of turbulent passion. Schubert was infatuated with Mozart, but in contrast to Kraus’s symphony, his Symphony No. 5 is light and joyfully elegant. Purchase tickets here.
Oct 24 7:00: New Adventures in Sound Art and Charles Street Video. Adeva (version000_01): Electronic Music and Video Performance by Debashis Sinha. Debashis Sinha’s explorations of how his Bengali heritage can manifest through the toolset of contemporary electronic music continues with this livestream performance. The text and sound world of the Vedas (Hindu scriptures) is subjected to machine learning algorithms and processes to create content that lies just beyond the reach of human comprehension — a piecing together of half-understood and half-perceived bits of wisdom that is reconstructed by Sinha, and the listener in the moment of performance. Livestreamed over YouTube with Q&A discussion taking place afterwards on the Whereby platform. It is a co-presentation of New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA) and Charles Street Video. Online location issued after Advance Registration here.
NEW!! Oct 24 7:30: Loose Tea Music Theatre. Dead Reckoning. A new musical adapted for film with book and lyrics by Lezlie Wade and composed by Scott Christian. With Laura Larson, Kelsey Falconer, Alicia Barban, Aisha Jarvis, Sara Shanazarian. Online YouTube premiere. No tickets required. For information contact Alaina Viau at aviau@looseteamusictheatre.
Oct 25 2:00: TD Markham Jazz Festival. Ready. Set. Connect. Concert #2. Spy Jazz with June Garber + Irene Torres, hosted by Jaymz Bee and featuring an exceptional band – Eric St. Laurent (guitars) George Koller (basses), Great Bob Scott (drums and percussion), Attila Fias (keyboards) and Alison Young (saxes). Tune in here prior to each concert.
Oct 26 12:15: Music Mondays. Folk & Song. Works by Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Dvořák, Gershwin and others. Beth Silver, cello; Jenna Richards, piano. Visit here.
Oct 26 7:30: Art of Time Ensemble/Toronto International Festival of Authors. The Poem/The Song. Available online until Thursday, October 29th, 7:30pm. The Poem/The Song presents music inspired by poetry in a variety of contrasting musical settings. Highlights include two-time Booker Prize-winning author Margaret Atwood reading her poem Thriller Suite accompanied by an original musical composition from Canadian composer Dan Parr, Franz Liszt's musical impression of Petrarch's Sonnets, music from the worldwide smash-hit Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats, which was inspired by the poetry of T.S. Eliot, a fantastical setting of Walt Whitman by composer George Crumb and songs by Leonard Cohen. Performers include singers Thom Allison, Gregory Hoskins and Carla Huhtanen. RSVP here.
Oct 28 7:00 Opera Atelier. Something Rich and Strange. A fully-staged new creation featuring theatre music that explores the realms of dreams, visions and the supernatural. Featuring soprano Measha Brueggergosman, tenor Colin Ainsworth, and more. With Artists of Atelier Ballet and musicians from Tafelmusik led by Music Director Elisa Citterio. Music by Handel, Purcell and Lully. Livestreamed from Koerner Hall, TELUS Centre. $25. Buy livestream tickets here.
NEW!! Oct 29 8:00: New Music Concerts. Virtually Yours: Cello Masterworks. David Hetherington, cello. Link to be provided at a future date.
Oct 30 12 noon: Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra. SPOGreatMusic Podcast S41E04 - Beethoven: The Man and His Chamber Music - Part 1. Featuring interviews with special guests. Host: Dr. Daniel Mehdizadeh. Find links and further information here.
NEW!! Oct 30 6:30: SKINNAMARINK with Sharon and Randi, Back by Popular Demand! A live, interactive, virtual Halloween Costume Party Singalong. Visit the Skinnamarink with Sharon and Randi Home Routes page here. $15 plus tax. Families of three or more require two tickets. To buy tickets, go here.
Oct 30 8:00: The Piano Lunaire. Lunaire Live IV: Blue Moon Gala. Two-piano recital celebrating the rare Blue Moon. Streamed live from Toronto in collaboration with Yamaha Canada. Stephen Runge & Adam Sherkin, pianos. Adams: Hallelujah Junction; Sherkin: Ink from the Shield (2020 world premiere); Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances. $20 suggested donation. For more information, visit here.
DAILY LISTINGS FOR NOVEMBER
Nov 01 7:00: Canzona Chamber Players. Carina Canonica, David Gazille & Jonathan Krehm, Clarinet Duo / Trio. See the concert here. In lieu of a concert ticket, donations to the St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation COVID-19 Courage Fund, in Memory of Elizabeth Krehm, can be made here.
Nov 06 12 noon: Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra. SPO Music Performance S41E03 - Beethoven: The Man and His Chamber Music - Part 1. New music performances by members and friends of the SPO. Full performance details and links can be found here.
Nov 06 8:00: Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. KWS Goes Online: Royal Wood with the KWS. Evan Mitchell, conductor; Royal Wood, vocals/piano/guitar; Steve Zsirai, electric bass; Mark Mariash, drum set; Royal Wood, one of Canada’s best contemporary singer/songwriters, joins the KWS performing some of his greatest hits from across many of his albums. Renowned for his intimate and compelling performances, Royal Wood’s music is effortlessly melodic with lyrically astute perspectives on life and love, making for a seamless pairing with the orchestra. Purchase tickets here.
Nov 15 7:00: Canzona Chamber Players. Casba Kosco & Theresa Rudolph, Violin / Viola Duo. See the concert here. In lieu of a concert ticket, donations to the St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation COVID-19 Courage Fund, in Memory of Elizabeth Krehm, can be made here.
NEW!! Nov 20 7:00: The Music Gallery. Exquisite Departures. A webcast forming part of the Departures Series curated by Tad Michalak. At a time when live concerts have come to a halt The Departures Series, which typically presents off-site concerts featuring touring acts, has re-imagined its approach to musical collaboration. In an aim to spur the kind of creative interactions improvisers & video artists often manifest in the live realm in a safe and engaging way, this program has embarked on a new adaptation of an age-old game, Exquisite Corpse. Pioneered and popularized by French surrealists in the 20’s & 30’s, the game typically involves either illustration or text. One artist starts an image and passes it along to a second, who only seeing a small portion of the previous collaborator’s contribution continues the illustration, then passes it on to a third artist, so on and so forth. Fifteen Toronto based improvisers and six video artists were invited to play an audio / visual version of this game over 15 recorded tracks. Each musician was only able to listen to 10-15 seconds of the previous recording before adding their contribution to this collective improvisation. This project will be webcast here.
NEW!! Nov 28 8:00: New Music Concerts. Virtually Yours: Love Songs. A chamber opera performed by Xin Wang, soprano & Wallace Halladay, saxophone. Link to be provided at a future date.
Nov 29 2:00: TD Markham Jazz Festival. Ready. Set. Connect. Concert #3. Donovan Locke brings his rich voice and great spirit to an afternoon of memorable standards and more. Tune in here prior to each concert.
Nov 29 7:00: Canzona Chamber Players. Rachel Mercer & Yehonathan Berrick, Violin / Cello Duo. See the concert here. In lieu of a concert ticket, donations to the St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation COVID-19 Courage Fund, in Memory of Elizabeth Krehm, can be made here.
DAILY LISTINGS FOR DECEMBER
NEW!! Dec 04 7:30: Upper Canada Choristers/Cantemos. Comfort and Joy: A Holiday Offering. Livestreamed from Grace Church on-the-Hill, Toronto on YouTube and on Facebook. With Hye Won Cecilia Lee, piano. Works include Vivaldi’s Gloria, the song Comfort and Joy, with music by Laurie Evan Fraser and words by Jacqui Atkin, co-founders of the Choristers and Cantemos. The song is dedicated to the memory of beloved tenor chorister Bill Briggs, who passed away in September after a lengthy illness. Cantemos will sing three Villancicos de Navidad (Christmas Carols) from Spain written in 1556: Dadme albricias hijos d’Eva, No la devemos dormir, and Riu, Riu, Chiu. The audience will also be invited to sing along with some favourite carols. For information visit the Upper Canada Choristers website here, email info@uppercanadachoristers.org or call 416-256-0510.
ONGOING EVENTS
Arts@Home. A vibrant hub connecting Torontonians to arts and culture. Designed to strengthen personal and societal resilience through the arts. Visit here to learn more about this exciting collaborative initiative.
Kevin Barrett. Live from Lockdown. Kevin Barrett does a live-streamed set of solo guitar tunes, coming directly from lockdown in his studio in Kensington Market, Toronto. Tune in to Kevin's Facebook page on Friday here. If you can't join live, the video will be available afterwards on Kevin's page with each week's episode archived on his YouTube channel here.
Classical Jukebox Founded as a response to the days of COVID-19 social separation, this site is designed to provide you the ability to sing and perform your favorite classical pieces from the comfort of your own home, with accompaniments by organ and piano accompanist, Matthew Larkin. In addition, Classical Jukebox offers another service - assisting with the creation of Virtual Choirs and virtual choir videos for those missing that collaborative and artistic outlet in their lives. Further information can be found here.
Esprit Orchestra. Filmbites. The first series of Filmbites clips are from Larry Weinstein's 1989 film For the Whales, in which writers, musicians, and artists celebrate the majestic whale. The film explores the theme of preserving our environment through artistic and musical meditations. Watch this short introductory video with composer Alexina Louie by clicking here, then click here to watch the film.
New Music Concerts. Sonic Grace: An NMC Audio Diary. Listen to David Hetherington perform Carter's Figment recorded live with New Music Concerts at the Music Gallery on Dec. 18, 2007, by clicking here.
Ottawa Chamberfest. Chamber Chats: At Home / Chez vous. Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2pm. Hosted by celebrated broadcaster/writer Eric Friesen. Interactive episodes combine chat with pre-recorded and live performances and feature guest artists and lecturers from all over the world. For information: 613-234-8008. Visit the website here.
Recollectiv: Currently holding on-line meetings. A unique musical group made up of people affected by memory challenges caused by illness (such as dementia) or brain injury (stroke, PTSD, etc.) and their care partners. Volunteers of all ages also form part of the band, making this a positive intergenerational experience for all. Participation is free with pre-registration. Contact info@recollectiv.ca for meeting times, information and registration.
Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts. a•P•art {of} performance series, every Thursday at 7:30pm here.
PODCASTS
NEW!! Oct 27: Canadian Opera Company. Key Change: A COC Podcast. A fresh take on today's opera issues. Co-hosted by classical singer and culture critic Robyn Grant-Moran (a member of the COC’s Indigenous Circle of Artists) alongside COC Director/Dramaturg-in-Residence Julie McIsaac, the first season of bi-weekly episodes explores the operagoing experience from a variety of perspectives, with special guests from the opera field and beyond. This first episode features COC Music Director Johannes Debus, acclaimed American soprano Angel Blue, Ensemble Studio soprano Midori Marsh, and Canadian visual artist Shary Boyle recounting their first time at the opera — and what hooked them. New episodes air every other week. Admission is free and episodes will be available here or wherever you get your podcasts.
PREVIOUSLY RECORDED
NEW!! Esprit Orchestra. Filmbites Clip #3: Excerpt from Ned Rorem’s String Symphony--Nocturnbe and Scherzo, as performed by Esprit Orchestra in Larry Weinstein's 1989 film For the Whales. The film explores the theme of preserving our environment through artistic and musical meditations in celebration of the majestic whale. Click here to watch.
Kingston Symphony. Finale of Beethoven’s Third Symphony (Eroica). Forty members of the orchestra perform the finale of the Eroica, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 while in isolation in their homes. To view the virtual performance, please click here. For more information on the Kingston Symphony, please visit here.
Koerner Hall. Concerts from Home.There are more than 25 classical, jazz, and roots music concerts currently available online. Check out the available items here.
Orchestre Métropolitain. Live stream of Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1-8. On the websites of Orchestre Métropolitain and Bourgie Hall over the course of the summer of 2020. Visit here and here.
TD Toronto Jazz Festival. Online Premiere. Measha Brueggergosman, soprano; Lennie Gallant, guitar. The internationally acclaimed opera singer and concert artist co-wrote "Champions" with Lennie Gallant. The concert is available here.
Toronto Consort. Explorer: Discovering the World of Early Music. Explorer is a blog for the curious; a place of learning, sharing, and community. This all-new offering will present an assortment of curated content in a range of formats, like original short- or long-form articles, original video and audio recordings, and educational content on relevant topics relating to Early Music, history, and world music, as they relate our beloved repertoire. Visit here for further information.
Toronto Operetta Theatre. An archival video of Toronto Operetta Theatre's production of Jacinto Guerrero's Los Gavilanes (The Sparrow Hawks) performed in April 2016 at the Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Toronto.This zarzuela tells the story of Juan, who returns to his native village in Spain from Peru as a wealthy man, at last worthy of marriage to his childhood sweetheart, Adriana. Separated for over twenty years, Adriana is unforgiving. In his absence, Adriana had married and is now a widow with a daughter, Rosaura. Adriana’s mother Leontina proposes that Juan marry Rosaura scandalizing the village. Juan is hesitant to complicate the situation especially as Rosaura is known to be in love with a young villager called Gustavo. This production features Guillermo Silva-Marin and some of Canada's most amazing voices to dazzle your ears and eyes. Watch scenes here.
VOICEBOX/Opera in Concert. Archival Video Project: Fierabras by Franz Schubert. Schubert’s opera had its Canadian premiere in 2019. If you missed our full production, please take a look at our gift to you with this video of excerpts featuring an amazing cast under the masterful conducting of Kevin Mallon and the Aradia Ensemble. It is a rare opera at its highest degree of excellence in performance. In the midst of wars between the Frankish Christians and Spanish Moors of the late 700s, conflicts are brought to an end with the intercession of a younger generation, where love conquers all. See the video here.
MASTER CLASSES
NEW!! Nov 22. ORMTA Central Toronto Branch. Online Composition Master Class. Submission deadline: Nov 13 @ 11:59pm. Information at 416-485-6562. $40. In celebration of Canada Music Week (Nov 22-28), ORMTA Central Toronto Branch is holding a Composition Master Class with composer clinician Christopher Norton. In this online composition master class, Connections and MicroJazz composer Christopher Norton will help refine new works by first-time and seasoned composers. Participants will submit scores and recordings of their works for Mr. Norton to review. He will send feedback in some combination of written comments, video response, and score annotations, highlighting strengths, giving suggestions for next steps, and perhaps suggesting related works for score study and listening. Contact Avila.Lotoski@hotmail.com for submission information.
PANEL DISCUSSIONS
NEW!! Oct 14 7:00-8:30: Canadian Opera Company. Free Digital Program: MindBodyMusic - Panel Discussion and Live Q&A. Building on the success of the COC's recent Music and Wellness programming, COC Composer-in-Residence Ian Cusson leads a panel discussion that explores the relationship between psychology, physiology, and musical experience. He is joined by a diverse panel of guests including music therapist Dr. SarahRose Black, Ensemble Studio singer Jamie Groote, physician Dr. Charles Limb, and Dr. Swathi Swaminathan, researcher at the Brain & Mind Research Institute. As active musicians themselves, they’ll offer a unique perspective into how the mind, body and music intersect. Audiences can submit their own questions for the panel in a live question and answer segment to follow. Visit here for full details and to tune in.
