The 40th Anniversary of the Opera in Concert chorus under Robert Cooper, C.M., featuring alumni Isabel Bayrakdarian and Russell Braun.

A Canada 150 Celebration! From the composer of our National Anthem comes this melodious and farcical screwball comedy! A Spanish diva, her philandering husband-to-be, a faked obituary, and her match-making magic all lead to a happy end. Featuring Julie Nesrallah, Diego Catala, and Stefan Fehr.   Music Director: Michael Rose. Stage Director: Guillermo Silva-Marin   www.torontooperetta.com

English pianist Benjamin Grosvenor made his Toronto debut in February 2014 and returned in October 2015. It seems a long two years since those sensational performances. Called “boy lord of the piano” in Australia, Grosvenor has taken the British piano world by storm. Music TORONTO is pleased to host his return. “Poetic and gently ironic, brilliant yet clear-minded, intelligent but not without humour, all translated through a beautifully clear and singing touch.” – The Independent Mozart                    Sonata in B-flat…

We are grateful that Britain’s brilliant Anglo-Irish quartet, the Carducci, are able to step in for us following a cancellation. The quartet will fly in especially for this concert, their Toronto debut. Described by The Strad as presenting “a masterclass in unanimity of musical purpose, in which severity could melt seamlessly into charm, and drama into geniality″, the Carducci Quartet performs over 90 concerts worldwide each year. The quartet also run their own recording label Carducci Classics. Winners of international…

When Brothers Speak is North America’s largest and longest running showcase of Black Spoken Word Poets. Curated annually by Scarborough Walk of Fame inductee, Dwayne Morgan, the show brings together six poets from different walks of life, and different cities across North America, to discuss their perspectives on the world that they share through the lens of being Black men.  Now in its 19th year, the show is even more relevant with the racial upheavals we have been seeing in…

One of George Frideric Handel’s greatest works, a favourite of opera houses and festivals the world over. Conductor:  Larry Beckwith.  Featuring Christina Raphaelle Haldane; Charles Sy; David Trudgen; and Korin Thomas-Smith.

Toronto Recital Debut A pianist who focuses on chamber music, Philip Chiu is an acclaimed accompanist/coach based at McGill University. Dedicated to elevating the standard and art of collaborative piano, Philip is the creator and director of the new Collaborative Piano Program at the Domaine Forget International Festival and Academy. In 2015, he was the first recipient of the Prix Goyer (Extreme Emerging Artist), Canada’s largest prize for an emerging artist in classical music. “Pianist Philip Chiu played with striking…

Now in its third decade, the Gryphon Trio has impressed international audiences and the press with its highly refined, dynamic performances, and has firmly established itself as one of the world’s preeminent piano trios. With a repertoire that ranges from the traditional to the contemporary and from European classicism to modern-day multimedia, the Gryphons are committed to redefining chamber music for the 21st century. Music TORONTO’s long relationship with the Gryphons began in 1995 and included 10 years as MTO’s…

Acclaimed tenor Roger Honeywell, actor Cheryl MacInnis, and guest artists Anne Lindsay (violin) and Alejandro Céspedes (percussion) join The Annex Singers in this original choral drama, journeying in song and script to three remarkable Christmases past: Shackleton’s first polar expedition, Champlain’s feast of The Order of Good Cheer with the settlers of New France, and the Christmas Truce of 1914. Currently in its 38th year, The Annex Singers is a 65-voice auditioned community choir with a reputation for diverse repertoire…

Voltaire’s irresistible—and censored!—masterwork becomes great music theatre. Upstaged by West Side Story but never obscured, the operetta has become the darling of opera companies and Broadway through the sheer power of its drama, music and imaginative splendor. Featuring Tonatiuh Abrego, Vania Chan, Elizabeth Beeler and Cian Horrobin.   Conductor: Derek Bate. Stage Director: Guillermo Silva-Marin   www.torontooperetta.com

Voltaire’s irresistible—and censored!—masterwork becomes great music theatre. Upstaged by West Side Story but never obscured, the operetta has become the darling of opera companies and Broadway through the sheer power of its drama, music and imaginative splendor. Featuring Tonatiuh Abrego, Vania Chan, Elizabeth Beeler and Cian Horrobin.   Conductor: Derek Bate. Stage Director: Guillermo Silva-Marin   www.torontooperetta.com

Voltaire’s irresistible—and censored!—masterwork becomes great music theatre. Upstaged by West Side Story but never obscured, the operetta has become the darling of opera companies and Broadway through the sheer power of its drama, music and imaginative splendor. Featuring Tonatiuh Abrego, Vania Chan, Elizabeth Beeler and Cian Horrobin.   Conductor: Derek Bate. Stage Director: Guillermo Silva-Marin   www.torontooperetta.com

Voltaire’s irresistible—and censored!—masterwork becomes great music theatre. Upstaged by West Side Story but never obscured, the operetta has become the darling of opera companies and Broadway through the sheer power of its drama, music and imaginative splendor. Featuring Tonatiuh Abrego, Vania Chan, Elizabeth Beeler and Cian Horrobin.   Conductor: Derek Bate. Stage Director: Guillermo Silva-Marin   www.torontooperetta.com

Voltaire’s irresistible—and censored!—masterwork becomes great music theatre. Upstaged by West Side Story but never obscured, the operetta has become the darling of opera companies and Broadway through the sheer power of its drama, music and imaginative splendor. Featuring Tonatiuh Abrego, Vania Chan, Elizabeth Beeler and Cian Horrobin.   Conductor: Derek Bate. Stage Director: Guillermo Silva-Marin   www.torontooperetta.com

Voltaire’s irresistible—and censored!—masterwork becomes great music theatre. Upstaged by West Side Story but never obscured, the operetta has become the darling of opera companies and Broadway through the sheer power of its drama, music and imaginative splendor. Featuring Tonatiuh Abrego, Vania Chan, Elizabeth Beeler and Cian Horrobin.   Conductor: Derek Bate. Stage Director: Guillermo Silva-Marin   www.torontooperetta.com

Founded in 1992, the Brentano Quartet just celebrated its 25th anniversary season. The quartet performs music spanning from the Renaissance, through the beloved Classical and Romantic literature, up to music of today’s composers. The Brentano played their Bach Project for MTO in November 2003 (Bach’s Art of the Fugue with 10 modern compositions) and Fragments, the incomplete thoughts of great composers, in September 2012. They succeeded the Tokyo as quartet-in-residence at Yale in 2014. Dawn Upshaw has achieved worldwide celebrity…

Stephen Hough is regarded as a renaissance man. He has distinguished himself as a true polymath, both as a uniquely insightful concert pianist, and as a writer and composer. In 2001 Mr. Hough was the first classical performing artist to win a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (colloquially called the genius awards). Many of Mr. Hough’s catalogue of over 50 albums have garnered international prizes, including the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Diapason d’Or, Monde de la Musique, several Grammy nominations, eight Gramophone Magazine Awards…

Established in 1989, the SLSQ came to Music TORONTO in 1992 and continues annually. The SLSQ has developed an undisputed reputation as one of the world’s great ensembles. Called “witty, buoyant, and wickedly attentive” (the Gazette, Montreal), with a “peerless” sense of ensemble (Financial Times, London), the quartet has been the Ensemble-in-Residence at Stanford University since 1998. In 2016-17, the SLSQ toured Italy, Paris, London, and the Netherlands, played a three-concert series at Stanford Live, and paid return visits to…

Rediscovered in 2009, this 1826 opera by Saverio Mercadante turns out to be a jewel of the Bel Canto style, brilliant and graceful.  Music Director: Narmina Afandiyeva.  Featuring Beste Kalender; Ilana Zarankin; Holly Chaplin; and Nicholas Borg.

Born in Moscow in 1944, Alexei Lubimov premiered many 20th century pieces in Russia, despite heavy Soviet criticism of his commitment to Western music. Since political restrictions were lifted during the 1980s, he has given solo recitals throughout the world, appeared with leading symphony orchestras, and worked regularly with early music ensembles. His recordings have been issued on the Melodia, Erato, BIS, Sony. ECM and Harmonia Mundi labels Mr. Lubimov performed and recorded with the Toronto Symphony under Jukka-Pekka Saraste…

Featuring Liam Teague, steelpan soloist. James Gourlay, Conductor. Bach, Brass and Calypso come together for an afternoon of remarkable virtuosity and the sounds of sunshine.

MTO introduced this young Polish quartet to Toronto audiences in November 2015 – and then invited them to return. Founded in 2006, they met in Vienna, and were mentored by the legendary Alban Berg Quartett. They have won many awards, the latest being a prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award in 2014. “Clever programming and stylish interpretation – it is no surprise that the four young Polish members of the Apollon Musagète have risen to the very top of their profession.” –…

The Penderecki String Quartet celebrated its 30th anniversary season in 2016. These four musicians from Poland, Canada, and the USA bring their varied yet collective experience to create performances that demonstrate their “remarkable range of technical excellence and emotional sweep” (Globe and Mail, Toronto). Their recent schedule has included concerts in New York, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, St. Petersburg, Paris, Prague, Berlin, Rome, Belgrade, Zagreb, Atlanta, as well as appearances at international festivals in Poland, Lithuania, Italy, Venezuela, Brazil, and China.…

By Victor Davies.  A World Premiere.  Now an opera based on the extraordinary play by George Ryga, The Ecstacy of Rita Joe is a contemporary tragedy that condemns the brutality of a system that sentenced Indigenous peoples to lives of social and spiritual poverty.  Conductor:  Robert Cooper.  Marion Newman is Rita Joe.  Also featuring Evan Korbut; Everett Morrison; Michelle Lafferty; and Michael Robert-Broder.

By Victor Davies.  A World Premiere.  Now an opera based on the extraordinary play by George Ryga, The Ecstacy of Rita Joe is a contemporary tragedy that condemns the brutality of a system that sentenced Indigenous peoples to lives of social and spiritual poverty.  Conductor:  Robert Cooper.  Marion Newman is Rita Joe.  Also featuring Evan Korbut; Everett Morrison; Michelle Lafferty; and Michael Robert-Broder.  

Hungarian pianist Dénes Várjon made his Toronto debut in February 2015 and we discovered his commanding virtuosity. At the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, he studied piano with Sándor Falvai and chamber music with György Kurtág and Ferenc Rados, finishing his studies in 1991. He is a regular guest at the most prestigious festivals world-wide, has performed with major orchestras throughout Europe and in the US, and is a deeply committed chamber musician. Dénes Várjon has recorded for Naxos, Capriccio…

Featuring Joe Alessi, trombone soloist.  Johan deMeij, Conductor. Joe Alessi and acclaimed conductor, Johan de Meij, make a return appearance for an extraordinary season finale filled with virtuosity and artistry.

Toronto Debut The three brothers Mark, Erik and Ken Schumann, who grew up in the Rhineland, have been playing together since 2007. In 2012, they were joined by violist Liisa Randalu, who was born in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and grew up in Karlsruhe, Germany. CDs, study with the Alban Berg Quartet, a residency of many years at the Robert-Schumann-Saal in Düsseldorf, winning the prestigious Concours de Bordeaux along with other awards – it all adds up to an exciting…

The beautiful Helen got the Golden Apple from Paris and left some rather irate goddess “in the dust! Long before her fabled trip to Troy, there was much singing, frolicking, amusement and hanky-panky in the city of Athens. Featuring Beste Kalender, Adam Fisher, and Stuart Graham. Conductor: Peter Tiefenbach. Stage Director: Guillermo Silva-Marin www.torontooperetta.com

The beautiful Helen got the Golden Apple from Paris and left some rather irate goddess “in the dust! Long before her fabled trip to Troy, there was much singing, frolicking, amusement and hanky-panky in the city of Athens. Featuring Beste Kalender, Adam Fisher, and Stuart Graham. Conductor: Peter Tiefenbach. Stage Director: Guillermo Silva-Marin www.torontooperetta.com

The beautiful Helen got the Golden Apple from Paris and left some rather irate goddess “in the dust! Long before her fabled trip to Troy, there was much singing, frolicking, amusement and hanky-panky in the city of Athens. Featuring Beste Kalender, Adam Fisher, and Stuart Graham. Conductor: Peter Tiefenbach. Stage Director: Guillermo Silva-Marin www.torontooperetta.com