This is a list of concerts we are attending, wishing we could attend, or thinking about attending between July 22 and July 28, 2024. For more of what’s happening around Toronto, visit our calendar here.
Astral Mixtape x Music Toronto
Monday, July 22, 8 p.m.
Hugh’s Room, 296 Broadview Ave., $35+, students/arts worker/underemployed pricing available
The wonder of musical instruments is limitless, and yet musical styles and core repertoire may define rigidly where and how music may be created and experienced. Astral Mixtape, a group based in LA, consists of virtuosi instrumentalists (Michael Siess, Misha Vayman, violins; Juan-Salvador Carrasco, cello; Nathan Ben-Yehuda, piano & synth), busy trying to build new bridges, branching out of the general comfort zone, illustrating and creating from a large pool of influences: classical, jazz, rock, and electronica. For their Toronto show at Hugh’s Room, come with ears and eyes open, and see what creativity means to this brilliant group. Composer-performer Radia will be on viola, to open for AM. Please note that the venue is not fully wheelchair accessible. Info here.
Toronto Concert Orchestra: Songs of the World at Home
Tuesday, July 23, 8 p.m.
Palais Royale Ballroom, 1601 Lake Shore Blvd. W. $30+
For that little mid-week pick up, join the Toronto Concert Orchestra at the Palais Royale by the lake. For their first concert of this summer series, TCO is featuring music that is close to its members’ hearts, ranging from improvisation, arrangements of traditional and folk melodies, a bit of tango from Piazzolla, along with three pianists (Vanessa Yu, Luke Welsh, and Daniel Vnukowski) presenting concerti of Beethoven, Florence Price, and Chopin. The TCO concerts’ atmosphere differs quite a bit from a typical concert hall — open air tables with a summer evening breeze, and a light costume theme in case your heart feels extra playful; it’s a lovely way to experience a high calibre performance. The costume theme for this week is ‘dress your heritage’, however you’d like to express it. Info here.
Toronto Summer Music: Shuffle Hour: HATCH Ensemble
Wednesday, July 24, 5 p.m.
Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave., free, first-come, first-served, with prebooking available for those aged 65+, and those with accessibility needs.
Well into their month-long festival, the TSM schedule is full of amazing events for this week, and this Wednesday’s Shuffle Concert is an excellent chance to experience some fresh new music. The HATCH Ensemble is a Continuum Contemporary Music project where young artist participants create and perform in a contemporary new music idiom under the Continuum mentorship, and despite the myth of ‘difficult new music,’ often new ears will find the idiom surprisingly easy for accessibility and emotional connectivity — especially in a live performance setting. Info here.
Toronto Summer Music Festival: Canadian Brass
Thursday, July 25, 7:30 p.m.
Koerner Hall. $20+
Glorious brass takes centre stage on Thursday evening. Since 1970, Canadian Brass has been bringing the unique colour of the brass quintet to the domestic and international stage. Charles Daellenbach, the sole remaining original member, with the next generation of excellent brass players, will present an array of music, ranging from arrangements to commissions (they’ve accumulated 600+ compositions and arrangements made specifically for CB over the years). Their audience-friendly presentation style has garnered quite a following, and this would be an excellent introduction to the brass quintet world. If you have little ones, do bring them to an earlier free kids concert on Wednesday July 24, 11 a.m. at Walter Hall — it will be super fun, and just the right length for the littles. Info here.
Summer Opera Lyric Theatre: La Boheme
Friday, July 26th, 8 p.m.,
also Wednesday July 31st, 2 p.m., Thursday, August 1st, 8 p.m., Saturday, August 3rd, 8 p.m.
Alumnae Theatre, 70 Berkeley St., $22+
Founded in 1986, Summer Opera Lyric Theatre and Research Centre, has been a great program for vocalists — especially young professionals — to explore the musical and dramatic aspect of opera. Their educational program, consisting of rehearsals, masterclasses, lectures and staging, culminates in public presentations, and for this year, they are mounting Xerxes, Idomeneo, and La Bohème. The Friday evening performance of La Bohème is the first of the 12 performances, and would be a fun evening to take a short timewarp to Christmas Eve, away from the heat! Each opera will be supported by music directors from the piano, and there are multiple performance passes available for a friendly price of 60 for all three operas. Come out and support these hardworking singers — who knows, you may see them again on the international stage in a few years. Info here.
Harbourfront Center: Summer Music in the Garden: From Canada to Cuphead: Duo Holz
Sunday, July 28th, 4 p.m.
Music Garden, Harbourfront Centre. Free.
The amazingly curated Summer Music in the Garden series (thanks to the mad genius of Greg Oh), brings unique music for this Sunday afternoon. Duo Holz consists of Aysel Taghi-Zada (violin) and Michael Murphy (percussion), and has been very active in Toronto’s contemporary music scene; their pairing, which might feel a bit unconventional, is quite interesting in their texture and timbre, and is beautiful. They’ve been playing music from well-known contemporary geniuses, such as Xenakis, Berio, Doatoni, and Leroux, and are very active in creating new works — for this concert, two new works, by Michelle Lorimer, and Matthias McIntre, along with other unknown works for any open-minded audience. Come out and see what you think of this pairing of violin and percussion. Info here.
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