A Tapestry Opera Box Concert in 2023 (Photo: Dahlia Katz)

Tapestry Opera’s Box Concerts are back for Summer 2025. The opera company will come to your street with a concert in a box (aka a stage on wheels with one talented performer) to entertain the hood.

For the last four years, Tapestry Opera has staged more than 300 pop-up Box Concerts with an audience of more than 5,000 throughout the city.

The concerts typically come at a cost of $500, but this year, Tapestry has come up with a way for you to enjoy a Box Concert at no cost.

The Details

Performances are about 30 minutes long, and can take place at a private residence, community hub, or senior home in the City of Toronto.

Limited dates are available between August 12 and September 13, 2025.

Talent

The creative team includes Rachel Forbes (Box Design) and Benton Roark (Production Coordinator). There are four performers for 2025.

Natalya Gennadi

Ukrainian-Canadian soprano Natalya Gennadi is a versatile performer with a wide ranging repertoire. She first gained public acclaim — and a Dora Award nomination — after stepping into the title role of Tapestry Opera’s Oksana G on short notice. She has performed with Voicebox:Opera in Concert, Pacific Opera Victoria, and in contemporary roles with Toronto’s Slowrise Music. In 2025, she’s sung the role of Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus with the Stratford Orchestra, and took on the soprano solo in Verdi’s Requiem with the Kindred Spirits Orchestra, Orpheus Choir of Toronto, and Resound Choir.

Mishael Eusebio

Filipino-Canadian tenor Mishael Eusebio is based in both Montréal and Toronto. His repertoire includes both traditional and contemporary roles, and he’s worked with L’Opéra de Montréal, Houston Grand Opera co., Cincinnati Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Banff Opera Centre, Opera on the Avalon, Tapestry Opera, L’orchestre symphonique de Laval, Musique 3 Femmes, and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, among others. A graduate of The Juilliard School, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and L’atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, he was a winner of the 2023 Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques.

Alex Hetherington

Mezzo-soprano Alex Hetherington is a graduate of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio, and performed the role of Siebel in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Faust in the 2024/25 season. She has also performed with Vancouver Opera, Ottawa Chamberfest, Mandle Philharmonic, Chorus Niagara, Tapestry Opera, and a variety of other roles at the COC. She performed with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in 2022, which sparked a number of performances with the ensemble, including the premiere of Cecilia Livingston’s orchestral arrangements of lieder selections by Clara Schumann, led by Maestro Alexander Shelley. Alex holds a Bachelor’s in Voice Performance and a Master’s in Opera Performance from the University of Toronto.

Keith Klassen

Tenor Keith Klassen is a graduate of the University of Toronto Opera Department, and has gone on to perform more than 100 roles across North America, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, the Czech Republic, and in the Bahamas. He’s averaged about a dozen roles each year since graduating in 2002, and has been lauded for his dramatic as well as his vocal abilities in a wide range of roles. Keith is also a filmmaker who specializes in short films that often have an operatic overlap.

Tenor Asitha Tennekoon performs a Box Concert in 2021:

What You Have To Do

There are a few things you’ll need to do on your end.

Ensure you’ve got the space for the portable box stage, with an available electrical outlet;
Get at least 20 friends and neighbours together;
Help to promote the concert on your street or in your building with flyers or online.

That’s it. Your neighbourhood will thank you.

You can find the Booking Information Sheet [HERE].
Get started by filling out the form with your preferred date and other details [HERE] and Tapestry will contact you to make it happen.

With a donation of $350, you can also sponsor a concert for a care facility, retirement home, or neighbourhood association. More information here.

Are you looking to promote an event? Have a news tip? Need to know the best events happening this weekend? Send us a note.

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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.