This is a list of concerts we are attending, wishing we could attend, or thinking about attending between January 20 and 26, 2025. For more of what’s happening around Toronto, visit our calendar here.
Glenn Gould School: The Robert W. and G. Ann Corcoran Concerto Competition Finals
Wednesday, January 22, 7 p.m.
Koerner Hall. Free — register for tickets
If you are in a tight financial squeeze post-Blue Monday (that is TODAY), or just need some uplifting from the drudgery of winter, this event is for you! This annual concerto competition from Glenn Gould School features finalists on various instruments vying for a chance to play a concerto with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra in the 25/26 season. Koerner Hall is beautiful to look at, and it sounds amazing. The youngsters are hungry and ready. Pieces they’ve selected are definitely some of the best of the canon — and I hear that there will be a harp concerto, a rarity. It’s open to the public for free. If you ever felt that Koerner Hall events are out of your realm, this is the perfect event to come and experience it. If you always love the Koerner Hall events, this is, well, a rich bonus. Info here.
COC: Paraphrases on La Reine-garçon
Thursday, January 23, Noon
Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Free.
Canadian composer Julien Bilodeau has been busy, especially in Montréal where he frequently collaborates with the Montréal Symphony Orchestra and Opéra de Montréal. As the Toronto audience awaits the opening of La Reine-garçon at the COC later this month, Adam Sherkin, a familiar pianist, who is known for his exploration of existing and new music, and the world through his own eyes as a composer, presents Bilodeau’s piano music on this Thursday afternoon. A great chance to sneakpeek the soundscape of Bilodeau — the way composers write, similar to the way writers and painters express, is personal and intimate. The more familiar we become, the more we can hear and sense. A lovely way to explore an individual’s voice in the intimate and familiar idiom of the solo piano. Read our Preview here. Info here.
COC: Madama Butterfly
Friday, January 24, 7:30 p.m., Sunday, January 26, 2 p.m., Saturday, February 1, 7:30 p.m., Thursday, January 6, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, February 8, 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, February 12, 7:30 p.m., Friday, February 14, 7:30 p.m., Sunday, February 16, 2 p.m.
Currently sold-out for regular seatings, with daily release of standing room tickets, and rush tickets. A staunch favourite by Puccini (Puccini was ranked no. 2 with 1,893 performances of 12 operas, during five seasons: 2008/09, to 2012/13, according to the Operabase, outnumbered only by Verdi), it is already nearly sold-out. A tragic love story with death, colonialism, power conflict, war — the list of challenges are endless in this particular work, especially when seen through today’s eyes, but there are beautiful arias — this, no one can deny. No further words are necessary, as the Toronto audience are showing their love with their tickets in hands! If you want to check out the hype, get yourself early into the queue on performance days: standing room tickets (a real bargain at 15 dollars a spot!), or rush tickets (subjected to availability) are likely your best bet at this point. These are limited to 2 per person, and there’s specific instructions on how to obtain them — read carefully, get yourself a spot, and experience the drama. Info here.
21C Music Festival: Continuum Contemporary Music: Spanning
Saturday, January 25, 8 p.m.
Temerty Theatre, Royal Conservatory of Music, $21+
This is a great program of current voices through classical music. Starting with one of the most popular composers of our time, Kaija Saariaho (1952-2023), Continuum has curated an amazing variety of music, stuffed solid in this short-and-sweet 80 minutes event. These names may not be familiar yet: Anna Höstman, Kotoka Suzuki, Ana Sokolović, Jocelyn Morlock (1969-2023), and Carolyn Chen, but trust that their ideas and expressions must be experienced live, to make sense in our own world. We now favour digital access for many things — but the media that we nurtured through the analogue world, will never be true without the sensation through our own bodies — to touch, to hold, to physically resonate, as we experience it in its entirety, including space (the live performers and the hall), and time (without the option of opting out, or being distracted). Would you rather be in a deep physical embrace with your loved ones, or select a Zoom call? How do we know what we feel, unless we’ve felt it through the components that have built our lives — through touchable, passing reality? There will be plenty to take home. Drop your worries about weird music, and come. Info here.
University of Toronto New Music Festival: Maciej Frackiewicz
Sunday, January 26, 7:30 p.m.
Walter Hall, 80 Queen’s Park, Faculty of Music. Free.
Accordion. Where would you locate in your mind? Oktoberfest? A view of Paris with the Eiffel Tower in the distance? Folksy bluegrass scene down south? Infectious pull of tango and cuenca? This portable, versatile machine is at home with many different styles, and its ability to evoke has cemented its place in all genres of music — including classical. Yes. Classical accordion music is a thing. It is a great pleasure to discover new things, especially when the opportunity presents one of the best international performers on stage, for free. We are very fortunate to have a rich accordion scene in Toronto — if this is news to you, please come out on this Sunday evening, and see Maciej Frackiewicz tear it up on the stage. With technique to burn and spare, and a gigantic mind and curiosity, Frakiewicz has won many first international prizes, and he’s been involved with over 100 new works for the accordion — for solo, duos with cello, violin, piano, etc., and larger chamber music works. Come and hear what is possible, and put a little crack in the stereotype that we often build in our own mind. Isn’t it amazing to still be able to find new things, when everything feels so saturated and familiar? Info here.
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