This is a list of concerts we are attending, wishing we could attend, or thinking about attending between Nov. 6 and Nov. 12, 2023. For more of what’s happening around Toronto, visit our calendar here.

Tafelmusik/Mods & Rockers

Tuesday Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. El Mocambo (464 Spadina Ave.). $20/$25 at the door

Tafelmusik players in their Haus Musik incarnation join vocalist Alex Samaras in the famed road house with a program of baroqued-up pop hits including Petula Clark’s “Don’t Sleep in the Subway,” the Beatles’s “Across the Universe” and David Bowie’s “Life on Mars.” Oldies by Henry Purcell and John Dowland are also promised. Info here.

Toronto Symphony Orchestra/Fauré Requiem

Wednesday Nov. 8, Thursday Nov. 9 and Saturday Nov. 11 at 8 p.m. Roy Thomson Hall. $42+

Sir Andrew Davis returns to the TSO podium to lead the Amadeus Choir in Fauré’s peaceful Requiem, programmed to coincide with Remembrance Day. Nardus Williams is the soprano soloist. The baritone, Ed Frazier Davis — the conductor’s son and also a composer — contributes a nine-minute piece making its Canadian premiere. Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 completes the program. Info here.

New Music Concerts/Ligeti String Quartet

Thursday Nov. 9 at 8 p.m. St. George on the Grange (30 Stephanie St.). $30, seniors $22, students $13

The British quartet honours the centennial of its namesake with performances of Ramifications (1968), the Poème symphonique for 100 Metronomes (1962) and String Quartet No. 2 (1968), plus works by Ana Sokolović, Nicole Lizée and others. Info here.

Soundstreams/The Bright Divide

Friday Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. TD Music Hall (178 Victoria St.). $29+

The contemporary collective mounts a double bill of Morton Feldman’s 1971 minimalist classic Rothko Chapel (Steven Dann, viola) and a new work by Cecilia Livingston, also based on the paintings of Mark Rothko. There is a staging by Tim Albery. David Fallis conducts. Info here.

Music at Metropolitan/Bach Cantatas

Sunday Nov. 12 at 3 p.m. Metropolitan United Church (56 Queen St. E.). $25

Veteran bass-baritone Daniel Lichti takes the solo role in Bach’s Cantatas No. 56 (Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen) and No. 82 (Ich habe Genug). John Abberger, oboe. The choir and period chamber ensemble are led by Jonathan Oldengarm. Info here.

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Arthur Kaptainis

Arthur Kaptainis was classical music critic of the Montreal Gazette from 1986 to 2022 and wrote for the National Post from 2010 to 2016. His articles appear in Classical Voice North America and Gramophone as well as Ludwig Van. Arthur holds an MA in musicology from the University of Toronto. He is president of the Music Critics Association of North America.

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