This is a list of concerts we are attending, wishing we could attend, or thinking about attending between October 27 and November 2, 2025. For more of what’s happening around Toronto, visit our calendar here.
Against the Grain Theatre: Opera Pub featuring Jaclynn Grossman
Monday, October 27, 7 p.m.
The Emmet Ray, 924 College St., no tickets required
The first of 2025/26 Opera Pub will be at the Emmet Ray — this little quirky venue’s really becoming a special place for all kinds of live music! Against the Grain Theatre has been running this series for well over a decade in the city, so come on down on a Monday eve, and trust your night to the host Spencer Kryzanowki and featured artist Jaclynn Grossman for an informal, intimate journey through selected, and often candid presentations of favourite arias, duets, and scenes. For those who were afraid of committing the entire evening to an unknown experience, this is the perfect solution to get your feet wet in the operatic culture — and no, not all operatic things are restrictive, super-expensive, and drawn-out-to-alter-speed-of-time. The Emmet Ray has a wonderful and extensive whisky collection, and their Old Fashioned is a particularly good one — just a little sweetness to start another week in the late autumn. Info here.
Toronto Symphony Orchestra: Debussy & Sibelius
Thursday, October 30, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, November 1, 7:30 p.m., Sunday, November 2, 3 p.m., all concerts at Roy Thomson, $38+
This is a real treat: one of the best conductors of our times, Paavo Järvi, will lead the TSO through Nordic soundscapes, with an evocative opening: Debussy’s Afternoon of a Faun. The art of conducting may feel mysterious to the audience; the recent movie, Tár (2022), featuring Cate Blanchett, and the Bernstein biopic, Maestro (2023), with Bradley Cooper, really divided the music communities as individuals fibrillated with either admiration or loathing. It does feel crazy that a person with a long white stick can make or break the ensemble; truth to be told, many good ensembles can play without a conductor to some degree. There are a few no-conductor orchestras in the world playing at really high calibre, such as Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (New York), and David Grimal’s former project: Les Dissonances, but this really is not the norm. So what makes the difference? Could be their personal charisma. Maybe a brilliant intellectual mind. Clear stick technique. It’s hard to say. However, even the same ensemble can sound wildly different depending on that person with the white stick, the lone figure gesturing from the podium. What makes Paavo Järvi so special? What makes him such a hot commodity among the best orchestras in the world, including the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam, Philharmonia, Orchestre de Paris, Elbphilharmonie, LAPhil, London Phil, Chicago Symphony — the list goes on and on? Do make the time for this program, and see if you can feel such magic with Järvi in the house. The extra brilliance from soloist Ksenija Sidorova in Kõrvits’s dynamic Concerto for Accordion, along with the great Sibelius 5, makes this program a must-attend for the 25/26 TSO season. Info here.
Canadian Chamber Orchestra: Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror
Friday, October 31
Hugh’s Room live, 296 Broadview Ave., 8 p.m., $54.58
CCO, full of quirks, ideas, and excellent players, brings an old favourite, Nosferatu to life. The 1922 masterpiece is one of the rare silent films that has managed to stay alive thanks to its vivid and powerful imagery, and CCO has collaged a soundscape for it, drawing from many dramatic favourites from classical music — expect Schoenberg, Beethoven, George Crumb, along with works from our own time, Canadians Marjan Mozetich and Kelly-Marie Murphy. Then stay for a drink (included in the ticket), and enjoy the Halloween revelry with dancing and a costume contest. Info here.
Friends of Music at St. Thomas’s: Borderlands: Music on the Edge
Saturday, November 1, 4 p.m.
St. Thomas’s Anglican Church, 383 Huron St., Pay-what-you-wish, $40/20 suggested
The Lute Legends Collective, armed with three very different cultural instruments — lute (Lucas Harris), pipa (Wen Zhao), and oud (Ronnie Malley) — gather together to present the faraway Uyghur melodies from Xinjiang, songs from Iberia, and the riches of the Ottoman empire. The time and space differences are so vast, yet, the human expression of beauty and sorrow through one of the simplest of musical instrument forms — plucked string on a hollow body — is immediately available to all of us, as long as we open our ears and hearts. Come to this lovely intimate space of St. Thomas, and be taken away by these dedicated musicians who will carry you through beautiful landscapes and different times; it is a true luxury to be able to create and experience music in close proximity — especially when we remind ourselves that during that COVID haze, we had such a thirst for this intimacy among strangers. Info here.
Royal Conservatory of Music: Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene with Renée Fleming
Saturday, November 1, 7:30 p.m.
Koerner Hall, $200+
RCM hosts its gala with renowned soprano Renée Fleming this Wednesday. The first half will feature a National Geographic film accompanied by Fleming with a mix of music, ranging from Handel to Björk, Mico Muhly to Jackson Browne, and the second half will feature favourite songs and arias with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra. With the ticket price starting at mega stadium concert level, with options of pre-show cocktail, gourmet dinner, and possibility of a private reception with musicians, this isn’t strictly a concert. However, as a special project that is tailored to a true operatic diva, it isn’t a daily occurrence either. If you’ve been curious about what happens in black tie arts galas, this could be the ticket to experience it full-on, with bells and whistles, fascinators and kid gloves. Info here.
Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto. Vertigo: A Choral Tango
Saturday, November 1, 8:30 p.m.
The Playground, 388 Carlaw Ave, $25+
Another choral conducting powerhouse of Toronto, Kathleen Allan, brings the passion of tango to the Amadeus Choir, along with guests Elizabeth Snell, aerial tango dancer, and Michael Bridge, accordionist. Unlike a traditional choral concert where many have to endure the tail-bone-unfriendly church pews, this concert aims to create a space where people can simply gather, learn a few tango steps, and complete the evening of beautiful music with personal enjoyment. The magic of sultry tango never fails. The driving rhythm. The incredible tension. The sadness and ecstasy of love and all its gradations. The genre continues to thrive since its inception, in that cross-section of the world, the New World port cities; for it to return to a flexible space, with potential for real emotions, without the fourth wall, seems only natural. A great way to take a flight of fancy, in our own city. Info here.
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