This is a list of concerts we are attending, wishing we could attend, or thinking about attending between September 15 and 21, 2025. For more of what’s happening around Toronto, visit our calendar here.
Toronto Symphony Orchestra: Carmina Burana
Thursday, September 18, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, September 20, 7:30 p.m., Sunday, September 21, 3 p.m.
Roy Thomson Hall, $38+
The one and only full-time orchestra of our city is ready to greet you once again at the homebase, Roy Thomson Hall, starting out with a banger: Carmina Burana, which features not one, but two guest choirs — Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and Toronto Children’s Choir — in addition to three lovely soloists — Julie Roset (soprano), Andrew Haji (tenor), and Sean Michael Plumb (baritone). TSO clearly plans to shake the building from the very ground. Orff’s take on these weirdly wonderful medieval poems are quite magical — they evoke, allure, and bite and sting. Come and hear the most popular chorus (perhaps of all time), O Fortuna, and let the music take you to the bizarrely fascinating wonders of the Carmina Burana, including a lament from a swan — once beautiful, now roasting on fire spit. The Canadian Premiere of Wynton Marsalis’ Concerto for orchestra (2024) will start the evening. Info here.
North Wind Concerts: Ephemera: Corelli in China
Saturday, September 20, 7:30 p.m.,
Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Ave., Pay-What-You-Wish
The quest for riches and mystery have fuelled many adventures, inspiring people to cross enormous distances and landscapes. For the opening concert of 25/26 season, the North Wind Concert presents Corelli in China, built on a narrative of young Italian missionary Pedrini, as he takes his first step from Italy, with the aim of arriving in the riches of the far east, to the Forbidden City. With jet travel, things have become so much closer in the last two centuries, to a point that it feels impossible to even consider slow foot travel from the West to the East; however, when we walk (or take a horse), we do see different things, and the change of speed and scale often allows us to see them anew. Come and hear what gems and scenes these fine musicians found, reimagining these incredible journeys: Cristina Zacharias (baroque violin), Jin Cho (baroque flute), Margaret Jordan Grey (baroque cello), and Louise Hung (harpsichord), with visuals by Matthew Antal, attempting an immersion to take you into this different time and different space. Read our Preview here. Info here.
Guitar Society of Toronto: The Ottawa Guitar Trio
Saturday, September 20, 7:30 p.m.
St. Andrew’s Church, 73 Simcoe St., $20+
The guitar is a beautiful instrument. Two guitarists playing together is a beautiful sight — as the plucking mechanic of the guitar makes it impossible to hide any discrepancy, the players must be in absolute sync. Three guitarists playing together — that’s a real sight to behold. Nathan Bredeson, Alex Bougie and François Lacelle formed the Ottawa Guitar Trio in 2018; these guitar heroes are also very capable arrangers, and naturally, they’ve expanded from the solid, much loved classical rep, outward to much loved tracks from movies, animes, and video games, in addition to showcasing new compositions. Come and join these three lovely musicians and get your ears tuned fine and close to the intimate soundscape of guitars — see the transformation of the grand, majestic music from the Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean Suite, and Star Wars, along with the silly music of Super Mario Brothers, through thirty busy, nimble fingers in sync. Info here.
Sweetwater Music Festival: Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante
Sunday, September 21, 3 p.m.
Meaford United Church, 7 Boucher St. East, Meaford, $20+
As we slip into fall with evenings becoming ever cooler, one more trip to the cottage country may be in order. For this Sunday, SMF built this lovely program centered on the Sinfonia Concertante — Mozart’s double concerto for violin and viola — along with Vivaldi’s concerto for two horns and two oboes (RV 569), and a vocal and strings work by Osvaldo Golijov — one of the absolute best of our contemporary music scene. If you are into making a drive out of the city in the still-fresh memory of the Ontario rural summer, do stop by in the little town of Meaford for some intimate music making on a leisurely Sunday afternoon. Read our Interview with Sweetwater Artistic Director Edwin Huizinga here. Info here.
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