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CRITIC’S PICKS | Classical Music Events You Absolutely Need To See This Week: January 13 – January 19

By Hye Won Cecilia Lee on January 13, 2025

L-R (clockwise): Pianist Bruce Liu (Photo courtesy of the artist); pianist Emanuel Ax (Photo courtesy of the artist); The Imani Winds (Photo courtesy of the artists)
L-R (clockwise): Pianist Bruce Liu (Photo courtesy of the artist); pianist Emanuel Ax (Photo courtesy of the artist); The Imani Winds (Photo courtesy of the artists)

This is a list of concerts we are attending, wishing we could attend, or thinking about attending between January 13 and 19, 2024. For more of what’s happening around Toronto, visit our calendar here.

Toronto Symphony Orchestra: Emanuel Ax + Mozart

Wednesday, January 15, 8 p.m., Saturday, January 18, 8 p.m., Sunday, January 19, 3 p.m.
Roy Thomson Hall, $63+

Similar to last week, there’s plenty of familiarity in TSO’s programming this week: Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 with perennial favourite, Emanuel Ax; and the amazing Also Sprach Zarathustra — and yes, it is great to imagine some of the audience discovering the work as a whole for the first time. There’s so much more music after the glorious opening, the opening that became engraved so deeply into our cultural history with Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (in fact, there’s a good 30+ min after ‘Einleitung, oder Sunnenaufgang’: ‘Introduction’, or Sunrise). And, every one of those minutes is golden. Getting exposed to Tippet’s Concerto for Double String Orchestra is a welcome bonus; his retake on the old tradition of the ripieno concerto (a bit like Vivaldi’s concerti grossi), features many elements of the past: folk songs, the earliest base of an orchestra, including the strings, plus jazz and the rhythmic diversity (thank you, world music) that infiltrated classical music in the early 20th century. Come and experience how we build past and present, and what it means for us, to look back and ponder about what progress or passage of time could mean with this piece, nearly 90 years old, yet sounding fresh to many of us. Info here.

Canadian Opera Company: Dance Series: Preview of DanceWeekend ‘25

Wednesday, January 15, Noon
Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre, Free.

In anticipation of Dance Ontario’s annual DanceWeekend’25, amazingly fluid, vibrant, and dedicated dancers will fill the midweek noon hour with gestures, rhythm, and lyricism. Drawing from such wide genres of ballet, flamenco, Hip Hop, Indian classical, Egyptian, Chinese, contemporary, and more, this is a great opportunity to experience rhythm and music in a different context. How do we manipulate time? Or is it we who are manipulated by time and sonic events? Does it matter which way it goes? Come and find out — and see the sound and pulses come alive before our eyes. Info here.

Hugh’s Room Live: Gryphon Trio + Jovino Santos Neto and Friends

Saturday, January 18, 8 p.m.
Green Sanderson Hall, Hugh’s Room, 296 Broadview Ave., $45+

Three-time Latin Grammy nominee Jovino Santos Neto is a jack of all trades — he plays the flute, piano, composes and arranges, and teaches and conducts. This busy man is joined by the local fav Gryphon Trio and other guest musicians in an evening of exploration of music and nature. Chamber music can be in many different forms and genres, and it is always lovely to see such collaboration — let’s see what this mature artist (boyish Jovino, 70 years old this year, and an inhabitant of such very different cultures; Rio de Janeiro and Seattle), will present to us, with such rich life experiences. Info here.

21C Music Festival: Michelle Cann and The Imani Winds

Saturday, January 18, 8 p.m.
Koerner Hall, $21+

The classic woodwind quintet consists of flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon. However, unlike string orchestras or brass bands, unless you’ve been seeking out to hear this specific format, most audiences may have heard such a combination only in passing fragments: in an orchestra concert with section solos, most likely. To hear the ensemble’s colour and capability is a rare opportunity, and the excellent Imani Winds, winners of a 2024 Grammy Award, are visiting Toronto as part of the 21C Music Festival. IM will present brilliant contemporary woodwind quintet compositions by Paquito D’Rivera and Lalo Schifrin, along with two of the cheekiest works by Poulenc: Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano, FP 43, and the Sextet, FP 100, with a Canadian premiere of Valerie Coleman’s Portraits of Langston, for flute, clarinet, piano and narrator. A great chance to explore the woodwind soundscape. Info here.

University of Toronto Opera: The Avenue of Avarice

Sunday, January 19, 2:30 p.m.
Fleck Dance Theatre, Harbourfront Centre, Free (with email registration).

A true local project here. Four mini-operas composed by students of Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, drawing from the colourful history of Toronto’s Jarvis Street, will be premiered on this Sunday afternoon. It’s remarkable how many stories sleep quietly in the very streets we casually stroll through. The richness of our own experience fuels us through the changes and trials of our own life, of our own space. Though all the online-tickets are taken, there will be a limited number of walk-up tickets available, scheduled to be released at 12:30 p.m. onward on Sunday at the Fleck Dance Theatre. Of course, you can stream from home, but it’s never the same. Come out and be part of this to-be-packed house, and fall into the magic of live storytelling. Info here.

Royal Conservatory of Music: Bruce Liu, Piano

Sunday, January 19, 3 p.m.
Koerner Hall, $75+

Bruce Liu, winner of 18th Chopin Piano Competition in 2021, brings his musical finesse and brilliant technique to Koerner Hall this Sunday afternoon matinee, with a rich program of late romanticism and a hint of modernism: Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninov, Scriabin and Prokofiev. The piano, despite its percussive nature, can be spun to tell stories of infinitely long phrases under the hands of a masterful pianist — an impossible task for mere mortals. There are very few tickets left for this concert, so get your tickets right away, and see what magic may fill this afternoon concert. Info here.

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