This is a list of concerts we are attending, wishing we could attend, or thinking about attending between March 31 and April 6, 2025. For more of what’s happening around Toronto, visit our calendar here.
Women’s Musical Club of Toronto: Music in the Afternoon: Midori Marsh
Thursday, April 3, 1:30 p.m.
Walter Hall, 80 Queen’s Park. $50, students with ID free
Midori Marsh, a familiar face as a first prize and audience choice winner of the Canadian Opera Company Centre Stage Competition, steps onto Walter Hall stage with a cohort of great young women musicians in celebration of sisterhood. The program has been carefully curated, and the last set of 20th century living composers (*with the exception of Stephen J. Lawrence who passed in 2021): Libby Larsen, Daron Hagen, Jake Heggie and Mark Adamo, is especially intriguing. Prejudice can create many illusions, and many classical fans say they do not like new music — supposedly what they often mean is that it’s rare to fall in love with something new, even strange. Every composer is striving to create a personally unique expression, and just like getting to know a person, getting to know someone through their words and creations in the absence of direct contact, can be hard. However, be assured that with Marsh and her friends, Frances Armstrong (piano), Rachel Szabo (Flute) and Alex Hetherington (voice), you will be in great hands. Come and experience what sisterhood can mean — a timeless concept of a million shades, built on blood, and chosen relations. Info here.
Toronto Mendelssohn Choir: Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis
Friday, April 4, 8 p.m.
Roy Thomson Hall, $35.97+
TMC tackles another choral milestone: Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. Beethoven’s inscription on the original manuscript: “Von Herzen – möge es wieder zu Herzen gehen!” (From the heart: may it go to the heart), is a timely meditative seed for us, as we face an upcoming federal election, an ongoing serious national identity examination, and the idea of brotherhood while facing factions and violent conflicts — Beethoven’s late life obsession. The Divine and Enlightenment were a complex life-long puzzle for Beethoven, and going beyond the usual religious stance, this work, along with many classic works with religious connotations, is really about being human in the midst of struggle. This Missa Solemnis with TMC’s consistently superb singing, accompanied by the reborn Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony — returning from their abrupt death by bankruptcy in October 2024 — feels poignant. Come and be inspired and reassured by human possibilities, as lovely soloists Tracy Cantin, Simona Genga, Frédéric Antoun and Brett Polegato, deliver words for hope. Read our Preview here. Info here.
ARC Ensemble: Hollywood Exiles
Sunday, April 6, 2 p.m.
Mazzoleni Hall, Royal Conservatory of Music. $40+
The talented Artists of The Royal Conservatory, with guest musicians, bring music of Miklós Rózsa to life on this Sunday afternoon. Ranging from string sextet, song cycle and piano quintet, this is a lovely chance to experience Rózsa’s music as a focal interest. Before you wonder who Rózsa is, if you’ve seen the technicolour masterworks of yesteryear with grandparents: Quo Vadis (1951), Ben-Hur (1959), and Hitchcock’s Spellbound (1945), you’ve heard his music. As a first generation Hollywood composer, Rózsa was a true master of leit-motif in commercial music, and his scores are full of lush, romantic lines, often sticking around as earworms long after the movie has ended. Come to hear this genius’s serious art music, and leave the bustle of current daily grind. Info here.
Canadian Children’s Opera Company: Mulligan’s Toy Shoppe
Sunday, April 6, 2:45 p.m., and 4:30 p.m.
St. Clement’s Anglican, 70 St. Clements Avenue, $15+
The Canadian Children’s Opera Company’s Junior Division presents Elizabeth Raum’s Mulligan’s Toy Shoppe. The CCOC’s Junior Division focuses on developing social and musical skills from a young age — from kindergarten and onward. The amount of care and work shared between the dedicated teaching team, hard working choristers, and ever-so-busy-and-supportive parents, is staggering. And the culmination of such concerted effort often surpasses the usual expectations. As this afternoon program is a short musical journey (45 minutes, no intermission), this is an opportunity to bring anyone, and everyone, to enjoy a very touching story about the quest for trials, sparkles, and joy — the childhood mixed bag of challenges, hard work, and happiness. Info here.
Esprit Orchestra. Edge of Your Seat International Festival #4: Imaginary Pancake
Sunday, April 6: 8 p.m.
Trinity-St. Pauls, $20+
The second performance by Esprit Orchestra for the week: Imaginary Pancake, leaves much room for curiosity — perhaps even confusion. Pancakes. Imaginary. What else are we going to talk about? Perhaps the best thing to do is come carefree with open ears. It’s no more absurd than most of the morning headlines nowadays. Despite the slight hint of the bizarre, this concert, last of the Edge of Your Seat International Festival, would be a great way to test your own boundaries: how much courage does one have, to go to a show with more than a hint of absurdity? For insurance, local favourites Mark Fewer and Wesley Shen — who have been consistently delivering great performances — will be there with the EO. So come, and see what may unfold. A real curiosity requires a hint of faith. There will be a pre-concert talk at 7:15, and a post-concert mingle as well. Info here.
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