This is a list of concerts we are attending, wishing we could attend, or thinking about attending between Nov. 27 and Dec. 3, 2023. For more of what’s happening around Toronto, visit our calendar here.

RCM/ARC Ensemble

Wednesday Nov. 29 at 7:30 p.m. Mazzoleni Hall $25+

The enterprising ARC (Artists of the Royal Conservatory) Ensemble celebrates 20 years of exploration with a program including Walter Braunfel’s String Quintet Op. 63 (an early discovery) and the modern premieres of three works by Vienna-born Frederick Block (1899-1945). Players are Erika Raum (violin), Marie Bérard (violin), Steven Dann (viola), Thomas Wiebe (cello), Joaquin Valdepeñas (clarinet), Kevin Ahfat (piano) and David Liam Roberts (cello). Read our Preview here; info here.

Toronto Symphony Orchestra/Michael Sweeney/Maxim Emelyanychev

Wednesday Nov. 29 and Thursday Nov. 30 at 8 p.m.; Friday Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday Dec. 3 at 3 p.m. Roy Thomson Hall. $48+

Maxim Emelyanychev, a young Russian, leads his own 55-minute compilation of selections from Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty in a program starting with Humperdinck’s Prelude to Hansel and Gretel and Marjan Mozetich’s Concerto for Bassoon and String Orchestra with Marimba. TSO principal bassoon Michael Sweeney is soloist. Info here.

Esprit Orchestra/Circle Maps

Thursday Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. Koerner Hall. $25+

Alex Pauk leads a international program comprising Bee Dance of Death by Vito Žuraj (Slovenia), Millefleur by Žibuoklė Martinaitytė (Lithuania), Postludium by Valentin Silvestrov (Ukraine) and the six-movement Circle Map by the late Kaija Saariaho (Finland). Kevin Ahfat is the piano soloist in the Silvestrov. Read our Preview here; 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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