30th Anniversary Concerts
2025-2026 Season
October 19, 2025
FROM MELANCHOLY TO SURREALISM, WITH LAUGHTER IN BETWEEN
We open the season under the tutelage of the authority on all things melancholy, the master of unrequited love himself: our favourite Schubert (at his most pensive this afternoon, in his Fantasia for four hands and his Arpeggione Sonata). But there cannot be tears without laughter and Schubert was certainly the life of the (musical) party! We will be sure to join in the silliness with his enchanting vocal trios Die Advokaten and Der Hochzeitsbraten. But the revelry isn’t over yet – we’re party hopping! Bring your masks and finery as we head to Poulenc’s Bal masqué (for soprano and chamber orchestra), only to end our afternoon entranced by Ravel’s Tsigane, for vioin and harp (masquerading as a luthéal).
* AN INAUGURAL COLLABORATION WITH THE GLENN GOULD SCHOOL
Featuring:
Tom Allen, host | *Alyssa Bartholomew, soprano | *James Coole-Stevenson, baritone | Nico Dann, percussion | David Eliakis, piano | Lori Gemmell, harp | Sheila Jaffé, violin | *Mira Kardan, cello | *Nicholas Kluftinger, bass | *Jeffrey Liu, tenor | Diego Matamoros, actor | Inna Perkis, piano | Mark Skazinetsky, conductor | Krisztina Szabo, mezzo soprano | Boris Zarankin, piano | Chamber Orchestra (with additional instrumentalists from the Glenn Gould School)
* Student from the Glenn Gould School
December 14, 2025
LIFE + DEATH. GENIUS + JEALOUSY.
We’ve invited all of the major players: Rimsky-Korsakov, Pushkin, Mozart and Salieri. It’s high time these four had it out! And the mediator, of course – ensuring that truth prevails as they grapple with thoughts on Life + Death, Genius + Jealousy – is none other than Clio, the lyre-strumming Muse of History. But first: who was Salieri? And how did he become the archetype of jealousy and… a criminal? What really happened between Mozart (the genius) and Salieri (the beloved teacher)? Not to mention: could such a person, a mentor to the likes of Schubert and Beethoven, commit as heinous a crime of passion? So many questions to ponder as we witness Rimsky-Korsakov’s rarely performed, one-act opera Mozart and Salieri. As if that wasn’t enough, we’ve invited Mussorgsky (and his Songs and Dances of Death) to weigh in too: “Life, wherever it reveals itself; truth, no matter how bitter… these are what I want.” And so do we!
Featuring:
Benjamin Butterfield, tenor (Mozart) | Mira Kardan, cello | Peter McGillivray, bass baritone (Salieri) | Nancy Palk, actor | Inna Perkis, piano | Brett Polegato, baritone | Kathryn Tremills, piano | Boris Zarankin, piano | Julia Zarankin, host
February 8, 2026
Chopin's Preludes: A Life, in Fragments
March 29, 2026
WE’VE GOT RHYTHM (IN 1, IN 2, IN 3, IN 4, IN 5, IN 6… IN TEN!)
If Stravinsky is to be trusted (and, believe us, he is!), “there is music wherever there is rhythm, as there is life wherever there beats a pulse.” We promise you an afternoon of magical, life-affirming rhythms: from the Basque patterns of Ravel’s Piano Trio, to the sensuous dances of forest nymphs throughout his four-hand arrangement of Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, to the halting, child-like patter of Mussorgsky’s Nursery songs, to the soft and slow gongs and bronze kettle tones of a Gamelan ensemble! We make no medical claims, but the concert may induce dancing feet and/or slight euphoric levitation.
Featuring:
Tom Allen, host | Mira Kardan, cello | Elina Kelebeev, piano | Maeve Palmer, soprano | Inna Perkis, piano Isabella Perron, violin | Boris Zarankin, piano | Ilana Zarankin, soprano
JUNE 7, 2026
(ERIK) SATIE-S-FACTION GUARANTEED
The sheer number of exquisite performers involved in this delicious – delirious! – 30th Anniversary Fundraiser Gala will generate enough positive and uplifting energy to carry us all the way to our 31st Anniversary. That is all we can say… for now!
Featuring:
Tom Allen, host | Colin Ainsworth, tenor | Russell Braun, baritone | Lucia Cesaroni, soprano | Lori Gemmell, harp | Andrew Haji, tenor | Erica Iris Huang, mezzo soprano | Elina Kelebeev, piano | Rachael Kerr, piano | Bénédicte Lauzière, violin | William Leathers, trumpet | Andrea Ludwig, mezzo soprano | Joseph Macerollo, accordion | Clara Nguyen Tran, viola | Maeve Palmer, soprano | Inna Perkis, piano | Adrianne Pieczonka, soprano | Leana Rutt, cello | Mark Skazinetsky, violin | Giles Tomkins, bass-baritone | Liz Upchurch, piano | Boris Zarankin, piano | Ilana Zarankin, soprano
2025-2026 Season Sponsor Horatio Kemeny
All concerts start at 3pm,
at Jeanne Lamon Hall,
Trinity-St. Paul's Centre.
427 Bloor Street West, Toronto.
