L-R (clockwise): Pianist Cheryl Duvall (Photo: Shayne Gray); Pianist Jan Lisiecki (Photo: Zamoyski Studio); Lemon Bucket Orkestra (Photo: Matt Forsythe)

This is a list of concerts we are attending, wishing we could attend, or thinking about attending between November 10 and 16, 2025. For more of what’s happening around Toronto, visit our calendar here.

Soundstreams: TD Encounters — For the Birds

Wednesday, November 12, 7:30 p.m.
Hugh’s Room Live — Green Sanderson Hall, 296 Broadview Ave., free with registration

This excellent Soundstreams’ program brings the wild beauty of birds to downtown Toronto — perhaps with a hint of yearning, as days are now darker, and the solace of songbirds feels like a faraway memory. Louise Bessette, an amazing interpreter of Olivier Messiaen’s complex, evocative music, will perform L’alouette Lulu, and L’alouette Calandrelle, from Catalogue d’Oiseaux, with companion pieces — a brand new commission from Maria-Eduarda Mendes Martin, and music of Gilles Tremblay and Harry Somers. Often, people feel lost in the unfamiliarity and strange nature of new music; however, just like any new experience, with a wide-open mind and a little bit of guidance, these strange soundscapes may reveal their beauty with ease and grace. There will be a discussion and Q&A for those who are lost, intrigued, or simply besotted with the beauty of these languages, and this could be the chance that you find that little pathway into the landscapes of contemporary music. After all, how could we judge anything without a full commitment of sensory, intellect, and emotional investment? Take advantage of this free, open event, and see it for yourself. Info here.

Metropolitan United Church: Noon at Met — Pipes and Hammers

Thursday, November 13, noon
Metropolitan United Church, 56 Queen St. E., Freewill donation

Though it may be strange to pair organ and piano, it used to be a fairly common combination — especially when people attended regular church services — for centuries. To see a concert grand piano, usually an impressive sight, paired with the massive organ of the Metropolitan — this particular one being the largest one in our country, with 8,333 pipes — is a comical sight; when was the last time a massive piano looked so cute and tiny? The organ-keyboard repertoire is fairly niche, and it’s always great to experience something in person, especially when it involves performers of great musicianship and partnership. The organists of Toronto are a tight-knit group, and it will be a lovely, short and sweet noon series to see Aaron James and Jonathan Oldengarm share their love of keyboards. As both men are fluent in piano and organ, the communication and mashing of timbre and characters will give plenty of interesting things to listen for. Come and hear what they are capable of, from faraway benches. Info here.

University of Toronto, Faculty of Music: U of T Opera — Viva la Mamma: Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali, Donizetti

Thursday, November 13, 7:30 p.m., Friday, November 14, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, November 15, 7:30 p.m., Sunday, November 16, 2:30 p.m.
Elgin and Wintergarden Theatre, $16+

Come on and join in the brilliance full of chuckles of humour and joy — Donizetti is a true master of bel canto writing, and we still can’t get enough of his lovely music, even in the 21st century. A main figure in the bel canto era, along with other two giants, Bellini and Rossini, Donizetti, with over 70 operas, was well-versed in both tragedy (Lucia di Lammermoor), and comedy (the Elixir of Love), and this charming opera, set in an opera workshop (ahahaha, it’s already getting silly) goes full-out on all the silliness of archetypes. With the incredible diva who finds the rehearsal too taxing, quarrelling singers who threaten to walk off the project, mama who demands a special aria for her daughter, and the project that just might fail, it’s all very silly and lovely. Against the certain grimness of November, join in the grandeur of the Elgin and Wintergarden Theatre, and fill the evening with the small, effervescent bel canto beauty of Donizetti. If you leave humming along (after all, Donizetti’s melodies are so sticky), get your calendar marked for the COC’s Barber of Seville for the coming February. Info here.

Canadian Music Centre: Cheryl Duvall — Amor Fati

Thursday, November 13, 8 p.m.
Canadian Music Centre, 20 Saint Joseph St., $15+

James O’Callaghan’s new ambitious composition: Amor Fati, will stretch across the evening, with Cheryl Duvall on the piano. This hour-long work for piano and offstage electronics will be set in pitch dark, deconstructing the world that we’ve built with our eyes open, and the clock constantly ticking. One of the main advantages of incorporating electronics into analogue instruments is that the world that was essentially inaccessible — the quietest sounds, the most delicate articulation, and all the subtle harmonics and undertones, all the subtleties that are too vulnerable to survive the distance between the performer and the audience — becomes a tangible reality for everyone. Just like the way the Hubble telescope, and extreme microscopy capable of attoseconds, lets us glimpse into the extremes of the world, expect the usual soundscape of the piano as you know it, to be deconstructed and manipulated to evoke unrecognizable phantasms. Info here.

Lemon Bucket Orkestra/Sutartronica: One More Party Before Winter Hits

Saturday, November 15, 8:30 p.m.
Lithuanian House, 1573 Bloor St. W., $40 (advanced)/$50 (door)

It’s a party that will go late into the end of autumn darkness. Sutartronica, drawing from the Lithuanian polyphonic singing tradition with electronica, has been playing all over the world, and their music — a true mix of modern and tradition, is hypnotic, beautiful, and different. Lemon Bucket Orkestra, based in our own backyard, is a phenomenally fun band, with versatility, wit, and amazing energy. With their signature mix of Ukrainian polyphony, Balkan energy, hip hop, punk, and jazz, and whatever takes their fancy, LBO’s shows are always kinetic — you won’t be sitting much of the time. Come out against the dark, cold night as we step towards the solstice with narrowing days, and remind yourself of the joy that life brings — brilliant, effervescent, and foot-stomping, full-out fun. Info here.

Royal Conservatory of Music: Jan Lisiecki

Sunday, November 16, 3 p.m.
Koerner Hall, $60+

Canadian pianist Lisiecki has been busy criss-crossing the world playing the top favourite concertos and solo piano repertoire. For this calm Sunday matinee program, Lisiecki is bringing perhaps the most beloved works of the solo piano repertoire — the rich, decadent, dramatic, and heartbreaking music of Chopin and Rachmaninoff, along with rich, modern takes by Szymanowski, Górecki, Messiaen, and the giant of Western classical music, Bach. It will be intimate and beautiful. Come and soothe yourself through the late autumnal nostalgia — or hope, and everything in between. Info here.

Lindsay McIntyre — Three Voices, Morton Feldman

Sunday, November 16, 7:30 p.m.
Array Space, 155 Walnut Avenue, $33.28, or Pay what you can

Another time bender for this week. Feldman was a brilliant composer who left amazing concepts and possibilities for contemporary music. He left us with a few things to think about — the use of indeterminacy (think John Cage and all the chances that a reality could take, at any given time — 3’44”, anyone?) — graphic notations (inspired by his friends Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock), an obsessive look at the birth, life, and death of a sound (as a sound is made, travel through time, and decays into the silence), and death of time as he experimented with music that defies rigid barlines and cognitive phrasing units as ‘music’ stretched out in extreme durations. Three voices involves three voice parts, which may be performed by three singers, or by a single singer who created the other two lines through recording; the work stretches into a full-hour, and as strange as it may be, these plain, simple lines will merge and diverge through the hour, creating a real physical sensation that is entirely different from their existence as singular lines — similar to optical illusions. Vocalist Lindsay McIntyre is ambitious in planning this performance, and her finesse and insight into contemporary music promise a rich evening of extreme intimacy and sensuality. Come awake and ready, to be taken into another dimension. Feldman’s world is magical. Info here.

#LUDWIGVAN

Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.

Sign up for the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! — local classical music and opera news straight to your inbox HERE.

Author
Recent Posts

Follow me

Hye Won Cecilia Lee

Cecilia tumbled into 'serious' music study when she decided to avoid attending medical school. Currently working in the field of classical music, recording, and Korean-English interpretation, she tends to get her nose dirty in many different things in the city. Cecilia holds a DMA in Piano Performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.