Series Season: 2022

PhoeNX Ensemble and soloist Lawrence Wiliford join to bring a new cross-cultural offering of Alec Roth’s deeply moving Songs in Time of War, breathing new life into the poetry of Du Fu (ca. 750 CE) as set by Vikram Seth.  Through music and song, we are exposed to a world in which conflict, turmoil and […]

Taktus Marimba Duo (Greg Harrison and Jonny Smith) is a Canadian marimba duo known for its fresh and unstarched classical and contemporary music interpretations. This concert, their first live performance since the release of their acclaimed album Mirrored Glass in 2020, will feature the bright, playful melodies of Ann Southam’s music, contrasted by the darker […]

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 […]

The Original Makers Space seeks to address the lack of access and representation of older Indigenous people in the workplace, especially women and unhoused people. The Original Makers Space is a drop-in site where Elders and community members are invited to work on their craft, sell their pieces if they choose and socialize. Scheduled seating […]

The Friday Night Market is an open-air fair held at nighttime featuring entertainment from ELMNT FM! We invite you to join us for this inaugural special event’s casual and discoverable atmosphere. Bring some street food and refreshments and come ready to dance and shop with all of the programmed marketplace vendors of the 2022 festival. 

Featuring 68 exhibitors working in the fashion arts. The Showroom: Featuring – LVH Jewellery, Jennifer Younger Designs, Niio Perkins Designs, Willow Crescent Quilting, Lesley Hampton and Assinewe Jewellery.  Original Makers Space: Native Arts Society  For Bead Lovers: Featuring – Cedar Eve Creations, This Claw, Catherine Blackburn Jewellery, White Otter Design Co, Lynette La Fontaine, jayde […]

Eternal Imaginaries opens the Indigenous Fashion Art’s Festival. Featuring a visionary group of artists and designers, Amy Malbeuf, Evan Ducharme, Robyn McLeod, Michel Dumont, and Curtis Oland, Eternal Imaginaries share queer Indigenous worldviews through their craftsmanship, patternmaking and bold use of materials.

Sovereign Matriarchs celebrates the legacy and stewardship of our matriarchs’ labour and teachings through tradition, material and motif, featuring a multigenerational group of designers. It spotlights qaulluq, Niio Perkins Designs, Swirling Wind Designs, Celeste Pedri-Spade, Lesley Hampton and EMME Studio.

Time Weavers brings Canadian and international artists and designers from New Zealand and Argentina together to harness generations of knowledge in the practice of trapping and fur design, weaving and material culture methods. This show features Janelle Wawia, Livia Manywounds, Maru Creations, MAWO, Ix Balam, Kadusné and D’arcy Moses.

A Letter from Home explores the enveloping memory of “home.” The show – featuring modern and utilitarian Indigenous design – celebrates family and place with ready-to-wear designers in both the fashion and jewellery industry from the United States and Greenland. Collections are designed to connect wearers to the land and their relatives and feature Margaret Jacobs, Anne […]