L-R: Countertenor Franco Fagioli (Photo courtesy of the artist); Pianist George Li (Photo courtesy of the artists); Violinist Anna Štube (Photo courtesy of the artist)

Toronto Summer Music has announced the lineup for their 2025 Festival, which runs from July 10 to August, 2025. TSM is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year, which will be the last to see Jonathan Crow as Artistic Director.

“As we mark TSM’s 20th Anniversary, we reflect on two decades of unforgettable performances, thriving community connections, and remarkable growth. It has been an incredible privilege to serve as Artistic Director for the past nine years, and as I prepare to pass the baton, I am filled with gratitude. Together, we’ve built something extraordinary — bringing world-class music to Toronto, championing emerging talent through the Academy, and fostering a community that shares a passion for classical music, in all its forms,” comments Jonathan Crow, Artistic Director, in a statement.

“This celebratory TSM 20 Festival is a joyful culmination of our shared journey. Join us as we showcase the world’s leading artists and welcome the next generation of classical music stars. Together, we honour our past achievements and embrace a future filled with new voices, ideas, and possibilities.”

The 2025 Toronto Summer Music Festival offers 26 Mainstage concerts, along with a range of free programming, children’s concerts and other events, and educational events. The full details for the entire Festival will be announced in June 2025.

Cappella Mediterranea (Photo courtesy of the artists)

Highlights

Here’s a look at just a few of the concerts in store.

Opening Night: Cappella Mediterranea’s concert production of Monteverdi’s Coronation of Poppea

Thursday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. at Koerner Hall

Poppea Sabina was the love of emperor Nero, but she aspired to be much more. The roadblock to her becoming empress was, of course, Nero’s wife Octavia. He’d have to repudiate Octavia for Sabina to have a chance. Desire and ambition collide in Monteverdi’s last opera. The concert production is conducted by Leonardo García-Alarcón, with Cappella Mediterranea. This production will tour Cologne, Geneva, Namur, Montreal, Toronto, and New York between May and July 2025.

Pianist George Li

Thursday, July 17 at 7:30 p.m. at Koerner Hall

The American pianist won the silver medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 2015, and has been winning high praise for his technique and virtuosity ever since. He’s performing a program that includes Schumann’s Arabeske in C Major, Op. 18, and Die Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6, Debussy’s Images, série I, and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

Bevan & Vignoles (Soprano Mary Bevan with pianist Roger Vignoles)

Monday, July 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall

Soprano Mary Bevan is joined by pianist Roger Vignoles to revisit the repertoire from her vaunted debut solo disc, Voyages (2017). The music includes works by various French composers in their settings for the poems of Charles Baudelaire. The tracks feature songs by Duparc, Fauré, Debussy, Chabrier, and others, each paired with a woman composer of the same era, such s Lili Boulanger, Mel Bonis, Jeanne Landry, and Pauline Viardot, among others.

Franco Fagioli: The Last Castrato

Tuesday, July 29 at 7:30 p.m. at Koerner Hall

Virtuoso countertenor Franco Fagioli performs with Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles in a program of music written for Giovanni Battista Velluti (1780-1861), the last great castrato. Composers like Gioachino Rossini, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Francesco Morlacchi, and Giuseppe Nicolini wrote their most successful operas for his voice.

The Calidore Quartet (Photo courtesy of the artists)

String Quartets

Four fascinating string quartets will perform at the Festival.

Calidore String Quartet (Tuesday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall) in a program of Barber’s String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11, John Williams’s “With Malice Toward None” from Lincoln, selections from Wynton Marsalis’s String Quartet No. 1, At the Octoroon Balls, and Korngold’s String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 34.
Rosamunde Quartet (Friday, July 11 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall) will perform George Walker’s String Quartet No. 1, Lyric, Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80, and Mozart’s String Quintet No. 3 in C Major, K. 515, with guest Juan-Miguel Hernandez (viola).
New Orford String Quartet (Wednesday, July 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall) perform Beethoven’s String Quartet No.14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131, and are joined by Ian Parker (piano) for Brahms’s beloved Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34.

Schmaltz & Pepper

Wednesday, July 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall

The klezmer quintet will play their signature mash-up of Yiddish music, klezmer informed by jazz, Roma, classical, and European folk music. Members include Toronto Symphony principal clarinetist Eric Abramovitz, Grammy-nominated Drew Jurecka on violin/accordion/mandolin, pianist Jeremy Ledbetter, award-winning bassist Michael Herring, and violinist/vocalist Rebekah Wolkstein.

The Nightingale Project

Tuesday, July 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall

This narrated concert experience is accompanied by the projection of over 100 historical photographs. Author Thomas Wolf acts as narrator to the story of Lea Luboshutz, the first internationally known female violinist, the Stradivarius violin she called the Nightingale, intertwined with that of her multi-generational musical family; (Wolf is a member). The Project follows Wolf’s book, The Nightingale’s Sonata, in which César Franck’s sonata for violin and piano acts as a thread through their stories. Canadian pianist Philip Chiu performs with violinist Anna Štube.

An Evening in Vienna

Thursday, July 31 at 7:30 p.m. at Koerner Hall

Violinist Yura Lee, mezzo-soprano Simone McIntosh, and the TSM Festival Orchestra perform arias, waltzes and other Viennese delights, including works by J. Strauss, R. Strauss, Lehar, Kreisler, Mozart, and others.

TSM Finale

Saturday, August 2 at 7:30 p.m. at Walter Hall

The finale concert features Academy Fellows, Festival Artist Mentors, and Community Program participants,in performance. The program includes the world première of Kelly-Marie Murphy’s new work for Viola and Piano, performed by TSM Alumna, Cassia Drake.
ReGeneration Concerts

Find more details [HERE]. Passes are available now [HERE], and single tickets will be available March 14 at the same link.

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Anya Wassenberg

Anya Wassenberg is the Toronto City Editor at Ludwig Van. Previously, she was a freelance writer with a specialty in culture and travel for three decades, and a creative writing instructor for Ontariolearn.