Category Archives: Toronto music

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto festivals, Toronto music

236. Black Creek Summer Music Festival

August 24, 2011 Heikki Walden

August 24, 2011

Featuring some of the best musical programming in the world, the Black Creek Summer Music Festival is a tour de force of musical events in Toronto. A wide range of artists and performances ensures that every musical genre is explored during the two months of the festival, which invites only the most accomplished of guests. Today’s performer is no exception: Barry Manilow!

Having sold over 80 million records, to say Barry Manilow has enjoyed success is an understatement! Ranking as the top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time, Manilow has recently released his first original album of the last ten years, called 15 Minutes; tonight’s performance will surely include the singer/songwriter’s latest work, as well as the classics he is so famous for.

Tickets for tonight’s 8pm concert range in price from $64.50 to $156.00. All Black Creek Summer Music Festival concerts are located in Rexall Centre on the campus of York University. For more information and a full schedule of all concerts, go to www.blackcreekfestival.com.

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto music

233. Sunday Serenades

August 21, 2011 Heikki Walden

August 21, 2011

Featuring the best in swing, big band and jazz performers, Sunday Serenades fills Mel Lastman Square with music on those warm summer Sunday evenings. In addition to enjoying a free concert, you’ll have the opportunity to “dance under the stars” as The Swing Shift Big Band performs A Tribute to Count Basie. You’ll be swinging late into the night as 17 fantastic musicians and vocalists Dave Statham and Larisa Renée provide you with the perfect accompaniment for an evening of dancing and music appreciation.

Tonight is the last of the Sunday Serenades series; the concert/dancing gets under way at 7:30pm in Mel Lastman Square.

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto music, Toronto theatre

229. Come Fly Away

August 17, 2011 Heikki Walden

August 17, 2011

The New York Times has celebrated Come Fly Away as “Spectacular and dazzling – A major new work with brilliant performers.” Find out what all the excitement is about tonight at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, when Frank Sinatra’s legendary music will provide the score for the choreography genius of Twyla Tharp.

Come Fly Away tells the story of four couples “falling in and out of love at a swinging nightclub on a star-lit evening.” A 14-piece big band will present Sinatra classics such as “Summer Wind,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “My Way,” “Theme from New York, New York” and “I’ve got the World on a String.” By special arrangement, Come Fly Away features original recorded masters of Frank Sinatra’s timeless voice, and includes newly discovered vocal performances from the Sinatra archives!

Tickets for this afternoon’s 2:00pm matinee of Come Fly Away range from $42 to $140; tickets for this evening’s 7:30pm performance range from $42 to $180. Come Fly Away will be showing in Toronto until August 28th; for more showtimes, go to www.dancaptickets.com/pages/cfa.

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto festivals, Toronto music, Toronto theatre

224. SummerWorks Theatre Festival

August 12, 2011 Heikki Walden

August 12, 2011

The largest juried festival in Canada featuring mostly new Canadian plays, SummerWorks prides itself in bringing Toronto “the most provocative and powerful theatre in the country.” Today’s schedules includes 29 plays, installations and more, showing at over a dozen venues.

In addition to the Theatre Festival, the SummerWorks Music Series will be an excellent opportunity to enjoy the work of local performing artists. Including some of Canada’s best musicians from just about every genre, this Indie Theatre and Arts Festival features something for everyone!

The SummerWorks Festival takes place from August 4th to 14th; tickets are $10 per performance (including the SummerWorks Music Series) and can be purchased at the Arts Box Office (located at Theatre Passe Muraille, at 16 Ryerson Avenue) or by phone. Music Series tickets can also be purchased from Rotate This and Soundscapes.

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto film, Toronto music

223. Open Roof Festival

August 11, 2011 Heikki Walden

August 11, 2011

In support of Toronto’s independent film community, the Open Roof Festival is “more than just a night at the movies.” With refreshments, a local band, and a feature indie film, this Festival is an outdoor summer party experience!

Tonight’s party presents Scarborough band Locomotive 8, with a feature showing of Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop. Co-presented by Hot Docs, this film promises not to disappoint!

The Open Roof Festival is held in the parking lot of Amsterdam Brewery at 21 Bathurst Street. You can purchase tickets onsite (cash only) – even if the website (www.openrooffestival.com) says that the event is sold out, a block of tickets will be reserved at the door. Doors open at 7:30pm tonight; the band plays at 8pm and the film begins at 9pm.

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto festivals, Toronto music

220. Toronto Summer Music Festival

August 8, 2011 Heikki Walden

August 8, 2011

Entering its sixth season, the Toronto Summer Music Festival and academy brings world-renowned musicians to Toronto for an amazing combination of concerts, lectures and Masterclasses. Tonight’s performance highlights the National Youth Orchestra of Canada at Koerner Hall, giving you the opportunity to discover the next generation of Canadian orchestral musicians! The National Youth Orchestra will play Strauss’s most popular opera, Der Rosenkavalier, and Mahler’s Symphony no. 5. A pre-concert talk kicks off the evening at 6:15pm, and will feature guest-speaker Tom Allen as he discusses Strauss and Mahler: Fame, fate and power.

The concert starts at 7:30pm; tickets range from $20 to $45. To purchase tickets, or to see the complete schedule for the Toronto Summer Music Festival, go to www.torontosummermusic.com.

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto festivals, Toronto music

199. Beaches International Jazz Festival

July 18, 2011 Heikki Walden

July 18, 2011

Now in Season 23, The Beaches International Jazz Festival is a summer institution in our city – in fact it has been voted Toronto’s #1 Outdoor Summer Music Event! Continuing until July 24th, the Festival features a unique blend of jazz, blues, funk, Caribbean, and other genres of music, ensuring that every festival-goer enjoys the range of sounds that defines this beloved Festival.

Performances take place at several locations, with main stage events at Woodbine Park and Kew Gardens. Admission to the Beaches International Jazz Festival is free! For a full rundown of all the concerts, events and workshops going on throughout the course of the Festival, go to www.beachesjazz.com!

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Harbourfront, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto music

195. Summer Music in the Garden 2011

July 14, 2011 Heikki Walden

July 14, 2011

Join the Harbourfront Centre in their 12th year of presenting free concerts in the Toronto Music Garden! Bring along your lawn chair (bench space is limited) and listen to the beautiful sounds of the Cecilia String Quartet (CSQ) as they perform”Labours of Love: Visionary works for string quartet, from Mozart to Piazzolla,” including Mozart’s Quartet in G Major, K. 387, Beethoven’s Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135, and Four for Tango by Astor Piazzolla. The accomplished young women of the CSQ are the first prize-winners of the 2010 Banff International String Quartet Competition, and are currently the Graduate Resident String Quartet at The Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School. The quartet takes their name from the patron saint of music, St. Cecilia.

The Toronto Music Garden is the brain-child of renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma, garden designer Julie Moir Messervy, filmmaker Niv Fichman and philanthropist James Fleck. For a free tour of the garden, come early to the concert (which begins at 7pm) for a 5:30pm tour which starts at the Prelude section at he west end of the garden.

For more information on tonight’s concert, or for a full schedule of future concerts in the Toronto Music Garden, go to the Harbourfront Centre’s website.

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto farmers' markets, Toronto food, Toronto music

194. Fresh Wednesdays

July 13, 2011 Heikki Walden

July 13, 2011

Take a true break from your workday and enjoy “Fresh Wednesdays” at Nathan Phillips Square. Featuring seven live, free noon-hour concerts along with the Square’s Farmers’ Market, this lunch-hour event is ideal for that beautiful summer’s day when the office’s lunchroom just won’t cut it. You’ll have the opportunity to purchase your favourite in-season fruits and vegetables while listening to fantastic Canadian music. What more could you want?

The Nathan Phillips Square Farmers’ Market runs every Wednesday from June 1 through October 19 (except for September 29), 2011. Accompanying Wednesday summer concerts get started today and continue until August 31, 2011. For more information go to Fresh Wednesdays’ website.

365 Things to Do in Toronto, Harbourfront, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto music

180. TD Toronto Jazz Festival Presents Eliane Elias

June 29, 2011 Heikki Walden

June 29, 2011

The Harbourfront Centre and the TD Toronto Jazz Festival presents Eliane Elias, multiple Grammy Award nominee and Top 5 recording artist in Billboard Magazine. Elias is best known for blending her fantastic voice and outstanding piano playing with Brazilian roots music. As the first female instrumentalist to appear on the cover of DownBeat Magazine, Elias has been celebrated internationally for her distinctive and innovative musical style.

Tickets are available at www.harbourfrontcentre.com for $51; the concert gets started at 7pm tonight in the Harbourfront Centre’s Enwave Theatre at 231 Queens Quay West.