Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons, published under the GNUFDL

One of the things that continue to make Toronto an excellent place to visit is the city’s excellent musical tradition.  There are literally dozens of different musical groups that perform around the city all the time and while I don’t have the time to cover all of them here on The Toronto Traveler, I do try to get to the ones that I think will be of particular interest to you the readers.  This one is the Windermere String Quartet which happens to be just one of the many different smaller musical groups located within the City of Toronto.

Details

Event:Windermere String Quartet Performance
Date: March 16, 2008
Time: 3 PM to 5 PM
Cost: <$20
Location:St. Olave’s Anglican Church (MAP)
Closest Subway Station:Jane Subway Station on the Bloor Subway Line
More Information: Phone 416-769-7054

Venue

St. Olave’s Anglican Church is just one of many beautiful religious institutions located within Toronto as the city itself is home to churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and various other religious institutions.  There are few cities in the world that possess a larger religious diversity than Toronto which is why more established churches like the Anglican Church can co-exist harmoniously with other Christian denominations as well as other completely different religions.  St. Olave’s, like many of the other religious buildings in the city, is run largely by a volunteer taskforce which is responsible for putting together a number of the events that take place within the building.  Windermere Quarter performances are regular occurrences at the church, so even if you miss this one and are in town later on in the year, you still might be able to find a performance to attend.

Event

The event itself has a distinctly religious setting to it, with the music being the “Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross” by Haydn as well as readings related to the work accompanying it.  However, the Windermere String Quartet utilizes instruments from that period to create startlingly good recreations of the actual performances during the time the work was first created and for that reason alone the performance is worth attending even if you’re not an Anglican.  From personal experience I can say that the smaller groups in the city tend to have a great sound quality and I’ve personally been to recitals and concerts in many religious settings of which I was not a part and still enjoyed myself greatly.  If you want to hear a good period recital, then the Windermere String Quartet is definitely the group for you.

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Photo Credit: Pink Martini by Ryan Harveyon Flickr

Once referred to by The New Yorker as being “Beautiful and sophisticated,” the Pink Martini band has been touring all around North America with their interesting blend of musical styles and part of that tour includes a stop in Toronto at Massey Hall.  Pink Martini can be lovingly called an ultra-chic orchestra and they can play everything from a Cuban rumba all the way to a Hollywood musical and everything in between as well.  Listening to them is always a good time.

Details

Event: Pink Martini at Massey Hall
Cost: $30 – $50
Date: March 15, 2008
Time: 8 PM
Location: Massey Hall (MAP)
Closest Subway Station: Queen Subway Station on the Yonge Subway Line
More Information: Phone 416-593-4822 or visit http://www.masseyhall.com

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Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons, published under the GNUFDL

Looking for a good place in Toronto to find some music being played?  Well, here are some venues in Toronto that are dedicated solely to music or alternatively that host music events on a fairly regular basis:

1) The Air Canada Centre
2) Exhibition Place
3) The Four Seasons Centre
4) The Harbourfront Centre
5) The Sony Centre for the Arts
6) Massey Hall
7) The Phoenix Concert Theatre
The Rogers Centre
9) Roy Thomson Hall
10) The Toronto Centre for the Arts

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Photo Credit: Massey Hall by hobvias sudoneighm on Flickr

Many people have undoubtedly heard of Finger Eleven already, especially if you happen to be into the alternative rock genre of music.  Even if you’re not and you’re looking to expand your horizons a bit, the musical performance of Finger Eleven that’s coming up tomorrow is a pretty good way to do that.  They’re an all-Canadian band as well, which perhaps adds to the flavour of the performance for people that are viewing it from out of country.

Details

Event: Finger Eleven at Massey Hall
Date: March 8, 2008
Time: 8 PM
Cost: ~$35
Location: Massey Hall, 178 Victoria Street (MAP)
Nearest Subway Station:Queen Subway Station on the Yonge Subway Line
More Information: Phone 416-872-4255 or visit http://www.masseyhall.com

Venue

Massey Hall is perhaps the second most recognized musical venue in all of Toronto.  After Roy Thomson Hall, Massey Hall is the next most desirable location not just for musical events, but also for stage productions as well as lecture talks on occasion and it is this conglomerate of potential events that continues to make Massey Hall not just a premier musical venue, but also a premier general venue in the city of Toronto.  It also happens to be located in downtown Toronto right near all of the other big venues and this makes an event at Massey Hall quite easy to combine with other tourist events in the city and because of that reason Massey Hall concerts tend to be on the list of potential events for most tourists visiting the city of Toronto.

Event

As I previously stated, Finger Eleven got their start in Canada; in Burlington, Ontario to be exact.  Burlington’s not too far from Toronto and like many of the other great Canadian bands, Finger Eleven started out as a group of high school students that decided to get together and create a band.  That was a decade ago and since that time Finger Eleven has been all over the place in touring and has seen their music climb the charts at an almost meteoric rate.  They now have fans not only in Canada, but also in North America and even some places overseas.  They’re coming back to Toronto for another concert fresh off a successful appearance on the Jay Leno show and while tickets are still available for the event, you might want to get yours right now rather than wait until you get to the door.

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Aaron Davis is a composer and a keyboardist that has lots of years of experience in both of those fields as they relate to jazz blues and a person that can currently be seen regularly playing and arranging music for the singer Holly Cole.  Suzie Vinnick is a blues singer that has won a number of awards for her great talents and is also someone that has been credited with writing some of her own songs as well as playing some musical accompaniment on different instrumental recordings.

Together, the two of them are going to sound terrific and it is in this spirit that we take a look at the dynamic duo playing blues music in front of a crowd at the Textile Museum of Canada.  This is going to be a simply fantastic event for all to see and the fact that even non-members can get into the event for less than $20 tells you just how much value you can get for your money by attending this event.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Event: Blues by Aaron Davis and Suzie Vinnich

Date: January 9th, 2008 @ 6:30 PM

Location: Textile Museum of Canada (map)

Closest Subway Station: St. Patrick

More Information: 416-599-5321

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The first time that The Nutcracker was presented was in the city of St. Petersburg in Russia in 1892.  It is a tale of the wonderment of a child’s mind and over time it also grown to become synonymous with the celebration of Christmas.  To that end, The National Ballet of Canada started performing their version of The Nutcracker at The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on the 8th of this month and the current tour will be wrapping up shortly on December 30th.  There are still tickets left for the December 28th at 1PM and December 30th at 2PM shows, with the latter actually being the finale of the whole tour.

The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts is located basically right next to Osgoode Subway Station and there are signs that will lead you to the right place from the actual station itself.  One of the advantages of the Four Seasons is the fact that it tends to be a bit cheaper and in the specific case of The Nutcracker you can actually get tickets for as little as $20.  So, if you are still in the mood for getting some post-Christmas cheer, stop by and see one of the final shows of The Nutcracker!

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

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Post from: The Toronto Traveler

Bernie German is one of the most delightful musicians around in my opinion, because he is very energetic in the way that he sings.  Children from all over love his singing and this is true even to the extent that people that are in Toronto as families touring the city sometimes choose to carve out time to go and see one of his performances.

Well, he is performing on the 29th at the North York Central Library in what is being officially termed a family concert and sing-a-long session.  The tickets for the event are completely free, so if you have children that love singing along to different songs, bring them to the North York Central Library at 10:30 am on December 29th to get their tickets for the concert that starts half an hour later at 11:00 AM.

The North York Central Library is very easy to get to by TTC.  All you have to do to get to it is simply take the yellow subway line to North York Centre Station and then from there simply follow the signs into North York Centre, with the library being located within the actual shopping centre itself.

Event: Canada’s Singing Cowboy Concert and Sing-a-Long

Location: North York Central Library (5120 Park Home Avenue)

Time: 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM, tickets available at 10:30 AM from the Children’s desk

Cost: Free

For More Information: 416-395-5535

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Winter Fest this year is going to be very interesting, with the highlight performance being sung by Omarion.  This is a man that is absolutely multi-talented, with the ability to produce, act and sing.  He is a performing arts genius and he will be joined at the Winter Fest concert celebration by young and upcoming R&B artists Trey Songz and Mario.  The price for this concert is quite hefty, with tickets starting around $65.00, but at the same time if you are a big fan of this kind of music and want to get in on the Winter Fest fun, this might be the time for you to shell out those extra big bucks.  Either way, there’s going to be plenty to do and see in the next two to three weeks, so if you want to wait and spend that money instead on two or three different events, that is also a good idea.

Massey Hall is of course one of the best known venues within the city and because it is just a bit east of Nathan Phillips Square and the Toronto City Hall, a lot of people end up performing at that venue.  It is located on Shuter Street just east of Yonge Street and the closest TTC station to it is Dundas Station, allowing you to walk southwards for about five minutes or so before you reach Shuter.

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1) The Toronto Islands, from the Wikimedia Commons

2) Convocation Hall at the University of Toronto, from the Wikimedia Commons

3) Massey Hall in Toronto, from The Wikimedia Commons

4) The St. Lawrence Market, from The Wikimedia Commons

5) The Ontario College of Arts & Design, from The Wikimedia Commons

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