Event Filter: Performance

Celebrating the musical life and legacy of master drummer Trichy Sankaran at age 80, Autorickshaw Trio presents a program of world-fusion music with deep roots in India alongside the master drummer himself. This program features innovative arrangements and original compositions by both Autorickshaw and Trichy Sankaran.

From mysterious Sufi devotional love songs and Arabic verses to Turkish folk tunes and rousing Thracian dance music, each of the four members of Turkwaz bring their own distinct vocals, instruments and unique cultural experiences. The love and respect they have for the traditions they draw from are clear, but they are not afraid to arrange […]

Quatuor Despax is an all-sibling quartet from Quebec who will take us through music that brought together, shaped and made them the musical force that they are today. The program will finish with the piece that their late father, the conductor and composer Emmanuel Despax, wrote for them in 2005.  Haydn, Quartet No. 2 in D Minor, […]

With their fresh approach and willingness to try anything (twice), Amahl Arulanandam and Bryan Holt (VC2) are always discovering new sonic possibilities in the two-cello medium. They present a program of 21st Century works, including music by Kelly-Marie Murphy, Kati Agocs, Chris Paul Harman and an excerpt from a brand new Harbourfront Centre commission by […]

This performance showcases Allison Au (alto saxophone) in a pared-down, intimate musical setting. Featuring Dan Fortin (bass) and Ernesto Cervini (drums), the trio will perform a repertoire of curated original compositions and standard jazz classics. This unusual “chord-free” trio format allows the musicians to stretch out and roam free, allowing flexibility that breathes new life […]

24-year-old cellist Bryan Cheng is fast-becoming internationally renowned, having already won second prize and Audience Choice at the Geneva International Music Competition. His Toronto solo recital debut includes an energetic program that pays homage to the magical intersection of music, dance, and nature at the Toronto Music Garden. Through the voice of the prized ‘Bonjour’ […]

Angela Schwarzkopf weaves storytelling and lyricism into the ringing strings of her harp. She will start the program with selections from her JUNO award-winning 2020 classical music album detach, including Kevin Lau’s Castles in the Sand. Schwarzkopf will be joined by the silvery murmurs of flautist Kaili Maimets, with whom she forms The Topaz Duo. […]

When R. Murray Schafer passed away in 2021, Canada arguably lost its most important composer. His music, thoughts, ideas and writings proved to be infectious, transformative, dangerous, sacred, irreverent and breathtaking.   Friends, new and old, gather to lift up his sounds from the ground into the air and across the water.  The Aria of the […]

Experience a tasting menu of great quartet music from the past 400 years from one of Canada’s most celebrated chamber ensembles, the Penderecki String Quartet. This concert, full of PSQ gems, includes the premiere of acclaimed Toronto composer Alice Ho’s new work The Plight of Small Wonders, the JUNO award-winning Lament in the Trampled Garden […]

With their voices moving together in tight harmony or intertwining in a whirling tempo, the highly acclaimed “Folk’appella” vocal group Kongero draws traditional Swedish music out of the past and into the present, taking the listener on a fabulous Scandinavian folk musical journey. Blue notes and amazing vocal polyphony make for groovy, powerful and intimate […]

This program explores manifestations of Métis identity from the early 1800s to the present. Mezzo-soprano Rebecca Cuddy and the Wood and Wire Quartet perform music by T. Patrick Carrabré, Ian Cusson and Neil Weisensel, charting the complex challenges faced by the Métis in their struggle for recognition as a unique people.  This concert will include […]

VILDÁ is an original blend of Indigenous Sámi yoiks, grooving rhythms and improvisation. Finding inspiration in the Sámi people’s strong connection to nature, present-day pop and Finnish folk traditions result in a unique dialogue that takes the listener through a fascinating journey to the Sámi land and the vast landscapes under the arctic hills and […]

Pantayo is an all-women kulintang ensemble based in Toronto. They combine percussive metallophones and drums from kulintang traditions of the Southern Philippines with electronic and synth-based grooves. The result is thoroughly original and completely captivating sounds that are transformed through the lived experiences of queer diasporic Filipinas. 

Raging Asian Womxn Taiko Drummers (RAW) is a Toronto-based performing arts ensemble of East and Southeast Asian womxn. Formed in 1998, they carry on the diasporic Taiko tradition that grew out of Asian-American and Asian-Canadian mobilization in the 60s and 70s. One of the few all-Asian, all-womxn Taiko drumming groups in the world, RAW exists […]

What does it mean to us when we acknowledge the nations upon whose traditional lands we are standing? Oneida Nation group, The Ukwehuwe Connection, offer us a cultural sharing on National Indigenous Peoples’ Day – an opportunity to make a deeper and meaningful connection to the history of this land. Through song and dance, they highlight the culture […]

Experience the beauty of music from the past with this intimate chamber concert featuring members of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Presented with introductions from the musicians, this program features music connected to Tafelmusik’s Music Director Emerita Jeanne Lamon, who passed away in June 2021. Tafelmusik’s presentation of Baroque and Beyond is supported by The McLean Foundation. Handel, Sonata […]

Graceful birds, escaped from a lost paradise, invite you to join their dance. They will mesmerize you and take you on a whirlwind journey of beauty, poetry and magic to inspire us all to follow them, play and immerse in their fanciful world. 

Lacey Hill is an engaging and multi-talented singer-songwriter and is Oneida/Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River Reservation. Discover her original Indigenous soul music, which she brings to Harbourfront Centre after previously touring around the globe. É:so yakotshá:nit ne Lacey Hill tsi yehyá:ton’s táhnon yonterennótha. Ohswé:ken nityakohtóntyon, Onenyo’ta’á:ka niyakaonhwentsyò:ten. Ó:nen káti onhwentsyakwé:kon teyakotawenryé:’onh táhnon […]

Enjoy a performance by Toronto Council Fire’s All Nations Junior Drummers, a First Nations Pow Wow-influenced youth drum group created to bring empowerment and identity to youth. The youth come from many different nations and communities across Turtle Island, including Dakota, Ojibwe, Chippewa and Cree, with many singers of all ages teaching each other new […]

Queer Songbook Orchestra Kids is a playful orchestral concert that weaves together story and song, presented by a collaborative team of artists from the 2SLGBTQ+ community. The performance is an interactive exploration of identity and acceptance, intended to nurture understanding and inspire discussion and expression to support of how we feel inside. By illustrating historical […]

Families will enjoy a mix of Mexican folkloric music, sweet francophone songs and a few of Flora’s own compositions. This talented emerging singer-songwriter, who shares the stage with her father, is sure to delight you with this vibrant performance. 

Won’Ma Africa is a virtuosic circus explosion accompanied by pulsating live music showcasing various African artists. A handful of daring acrobats, accompanied by their musicians, perform to the pulsating rhythm of the djembes of Guinea with their authentic and original choreography and acrobatics. With the melodious sound of the Kora, Yamoussa Bangoura transports us to […]

The Great Barrier Reef is a three-and-a-half-hour participatory experience that invites children and adults to explore the coral reef ecosystem. Comprised of a workshop, a show and a demonstration, participants will work together to form a “human” coral reef and take on different roles, from being a part of the reef itself to inhabiting the […]

Inspired by Toronto’s renowned, historic Bohemian Embassy, meet a new generation of artists inspiring Canada’s ever-evolving literary scene at The New Embassy: a digital mini-series of spoken word, poetry, prose, theatrical readings, music and dance.  Consider disabled, Deaf and Mad futures through a riveting set of performances by Black artists. Curated by Syrus Marcus Ware, […]