KOERNER HALL
Luka Coetzee. Photo: J. Henry Fair
Former Toronto Symphony Orchestra Music Director Peter Oundjian guest-conducts the Royal Conservatory Orchestra on Feb. 6 in Canadian composer Vivian Fung’s Dust Devils and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6. Pianist Eric Guo, grand-prize winner of the conservatory’s Robert W. and G. Ann Corcoran Concerto Competition, plays Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2. As part of Koerner’s ongoing series featuring the world’s greatest orchestras, the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer performs Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 on Feb. 12 (see our interview with Fischer in this issue). On Feb. 20, two prominent RCM alumni take the stage: cellist Luka Coetzee and pianist Jon Kimura Parker perform a varied selection of works from Gershwin’s Three Preludes as well as cello sonatas by Brahms and Rachmaninov. Koerner’s piano series continues on Feb. 22 with Grammy Award-winning, Uzbekistan-born classical pianist Yefim Bronfman playing works by Schumann, Brahms, Debussy and Prokofiev. The award-winning Danish String Quartet’s Feb. 28 program includes works by Ravel and Schnittke as well as Jonny Greenwood’s Suite for String Quartet from the film There Will Be Blood. The American male a cappella vocal ensemble, Chanticleer, returns on March 1 with an eclectic selection ranging from African-American spirituals to Pete Seeger. Students of The Glenn Gould School present two short Italian works on March 18 and 20: Rossini’s La cambiale di matrimonio and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. www.rcmusic.com
TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Joshua Bell. Photo: Phillip Knott
Under Music Director Gustavo Gimeno, the orchestra presents Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 on Feb. 19, 21 & 22. The TSO travels to George Weston Recital Hall in the northern part of the city on March 7 & 8 with Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7, Vivian Fung’s Parade, and Kevin Chen playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17. Conducted by RBC Resident Conductor and TSYO Conductor Nicholas Sharma. Dvořák is on the program again March 12-14 when Spanish cellist Pablo Ferrández performs the Czech master’s cello concerto, and the TSO his Othello Overture. Violinist Joshua Bell plays and leads Bruch’s First Violin Concerto and conducts Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and Symphony No. 7 in a program that also includes Florence Price’s Adoration (March 26, 28 & 29). French conductor Fabien Gabel is joined by Swiss pianist Francesco Piemontesi for Mozart’s final Piano Concerto No. 27. Their April 2 and 4 concerts also include Ravel’s Boléro, the Canadian premiere of Joseph Marx’s Symphonic Night Music, and Samy Moussa’s Nocturne. www.tso.ca
CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY
Sarah Dufresne
The COC opens its winter season with a revival of Verdi’s Otello. Quinn Kelsey returns in the title role in the same Christopher Alden production which he headlined when it was first presented in 2011. Canadian sopranos Sarah Dufresne and Andriana Chuchman share the role of Gilda. Ben Bliss, familiar from his Mozart roles at the COC, is the Duke of Mantua. Chinese bass Peixin Chen sings Sparafucile and Zoie Reams is Maddalena after a memorable COC debut in 2024’s Medea. Music Director Johannes Debus conducts (Jan. 24-Feb. 14).
Deepa Johnny. Photo: Jeffrey Junes
The company revives Spanish street-theatre company Els Comediants’s staging of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, first seen in 2015. Several singers make their company debuts including Luke Sutliff in the title role, Dave Monaco and Pietro Adaini as Almaviva, and Deepa Johnny as Rosina. Renato Girolami reprises his Bartolo from 2015 and 2020, Luca Pisaroni is Basilio and Nathan Keoughan sings Fiorello and an Officer. Daniela Candillari conducts (Feb. 5-21). www.coc.ca
TAFELMUSIK
Keiran Campbell. Photo: Bill Wadman
From Feb. 19 to 22, the orchestra presents Rameau and the Art of Dance, a program that explores music and dance from Rameau’s operas. Read our interview in this issue with violinist Robert Mealy, head of Juilliard’s Historical Performance program and director of the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, who leads the concerts. Tafelmusik Chamber Choir with guest soloists soprano Myriam Leblanc and tenor James Reese sing a program of Bach works hand-picked by the choir’s founder, Ivars Taurins (March 12-15). Influencers: the Bachs, Mozart, & Haydn explores the influence of Bach’s offspring on the next generation of classical composers like Haydn and Mozart. Tafelmusik’s Principal Guest Director Rachel Podger leads from the violin, and cellist Keiran Campbell plays C.P.E. Bach’s Cello Concerto in A Major (April 9-12). www.tafelmusik.org
MOOREDALE CONCERTS
David Jalbert. Photo: Julien Faugère
Mooredale Concerts celebrates 40 years in 2026. On Feb. 22, they present Canadian pianist David Jalbert, a regular soloist with orchestras such as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, the National Symphony of Ireland, and Orchestre Métropolitain. Having recorded two volumes of Prokofiev’s piano works to great acclaim, Jalbert will perform his Sonatas Opp. 29 (C minor), 14 (D minor), 82 (A Major) and 10 Pieces for Piano, Op. 12. www.mooredaleconcerts.com
ONTARIO PHILHARMONIC
Haiou Zhang. Photo: Studioaufnahmen
On March 20, the orchestra presents Yin Chengzong’s Yellow River Piano Concerto. The four-movement piano concerto, composed in 1969, is based on traditional Chinese folk melodies and arose from a period of political and social turmoil in China in an effort to bolster national pride in the face of adversity. Chinese-born, German-based pianist Haiou Zhang is the soloist. Also on the program is Mahler’s first symphony, the “Titan,” all under the baton of the orchestra’s Music Director Marco Parisotto. www.ontariophil.ca
VOICEBOX: OPERA IN CONCERT
Diana Rockwell
Bellini’s elegiac La sonnambula receives a rare Canadian outing on Feb. 14. Yellowknife soprano Diana Rockwell stars as sleepwalker Amina, with tenor Jeremy Scinocca, recent winner of Opéra de Montréal’s Gala Talent, as her jealous lover, Elvino. www.operainconcert.com
