Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

COC Ensemble Studio artists Alex Halliday and Midori Marsh bid farewell to the Ensemble Studio with a graduating recital of songs that showcase the full extent of their musical and dramatic range, including Mozart’s tour-de-force concert aria Per questa bella mano, K. 612.

Ballet Creole is one of Canada’s first professional Black dance companies presenting African and Caribbean-centred programming on stage and in communities. This high-energy and educational performance will be sure to have audience members tapping their feet and wanting to join the festivities.

Internationally renowned Canadian pianist Sheng Cai’s performances of major keyboard works of the past centuries have touched audiences and won the praise of critics on four continents. In this concert, Cai shows off Canadian piano mastery in works by Oskar Morawetz and André Mathieu, before bringing us to Europe to hear pieces by François Couperin and Tchaikovsky.

Fantasias are associated with unbounded flights of the imagination. This concert, with its theatrical elements, will allow you to explore this musical form through characters that were either described by the composers or dreamed up by the performers. Meet Eusebius and Florestan, two personifications created by Schumann to embody his own contradictions, and watch as a dreaming painter comes to life to the sound of Debussy’s music. Come and be captivated by the clear rapport within this clarinet and piano…

Award-winning pianist Sofia Gulyak makes her return to the Free Concert Series with a series of works to show off her delicate yet precise sound. Starting with works by Clara and Robert Schumann, the program will continue with pieces by Brahms and Scriabin, before finishing with a selection from Stravinsky’s famous Firebird Suite.

Artists from the Toronto Consort will highlight solos and duets from Baroque Scotland, by Scottish composers and their colleagues from Edinburgh's Italian immigrant community. Sonatas, variations, and settings of traditional Scottish tunes by Barsanti, Oswald, Munro and others, with a wee dash of Vivaldi.

Students and faculty from Humber College’s renowned music program will bring us around the world with their global fusion ensemble. This exciting and energetic performance will provide a great way to wrap up the week.

Members from the COC’s roster of Teaching Artists will be taking the stage to lead an interactive workshop inspired by Gian Carlo Menotti’s 1939 opera The Old Maid and the Thief. Navigating through dramaturgy, set design, and a few of its most famous arias, this workshop will provide an educational exploration of the well-loved radio opera—while also experiencing the various artistic components involved in this production.

Against the Grain Theatre creates genre-bending, boundary-breaking operatic and vocal works by weaving together memorable artistic experiences with diverse storytelling. Get a sneak-peek into Against the Grain Theatre's upcoming season with a preview of their spring production.

Costumed excerpts of George Frideric Handel’s first operatic masterpiece will be performed in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre just in time for the Easter season. This extraordinary feast of vocal music and dancing plays out in the heavenly and earthly realms.

The talented piano students of the Glenn Gould School come together to perform a dazzling demonstration of their virtuosity. For this concert, students will pair off into duet teams to present Dvorak’s brilliant Slavonic Dances (Book 1).

Acclaimed Toronto-based mixed East/West PhoeNX Ensemble and celebrated tenor Lawrence Wiliford join forces to present a new cross-cultural revisit of Alec Roth’s Songs in Time of War. Based on the poetry of Du Fu as translated by Vikram Seth, this epic song cycle shares stories of adventure, friendship, solitude, love, loss, and the profound beauty of life.

COC Ensemble Studio mezzo-sopranos Queen Hezumuryango and Alex Hetherington join Liz Upchurch, Head of the COC Ensemble Studio, for a program that explores the richness and depth of the mezzo soprano repertoire. The program includes Chausson’s Chanson perpétuelle and H. Leslie Adams’ Nightsongs.

While visiting Toronto as part of the COC’s spring production of Tosca, Roland Wood demonstrates to audiences the professional life-cycle of a baritone. From the music a student might expect to sing during their training, to repertoire showcasing the various stages of vocal development of an opera singer, Wood will showcase his range and experience in this educational recital.

COC Ensemble Studio sopranos Charlotte Siegel and Ariane Cossette present a program of arias and duets, centered on two of the most remarkable scenes from the opera repertoire: Desdemona's Willow Song and prayer from Verdi’s Otello, and Tatiana’s letter scene from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.