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Whether it's your first concert or your first in years, these are the upcoming shows we'd point a friend to. No homework needed. Each one comes with a quick note on what you'll hear.

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October 2026

Fri

Oct 9

7:30 PM

La Traviata

Verdi's most-loved opera: a Paris courtesan, a doomed romance and the drinking song you already know. Sung in Italian with English surtitles.

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

Canadian Opera Company

Wed

Oct 14

2:00 PM

The Music of Bond… James Bond

Six decades of James Bond themes for full orchestra, from the John Barry brass to the recent title songs, with Broadway's Lena Hall singing.

Roy Thomson Hall

Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Sat

Oct 17

7:30 PM

Disney Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas in Concert Live-to-Film

The whole film on screen with Danny Elfman's score and songs played live by the TSO. Halloween and Christmas in one night.

Roy Thomson Hall

Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Thu

Oct 22

7:30 PM

Jan Lisiecki Plays Grieg

Grieg's Piano Concerto opens with one of the most dramatic entrances in music. Brahms's Second Symphony ends on a blaze.

Roy Thomson Hall

Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Thu

Oct 29

7:30 PM

Baroque Fiesta

Violinist Lina Tur Bonet and mezzo Cecilia Duarte in Baroque music from Spain and the Americas. Lively, rhythmic, fun.

Trinity St. Paul's United Church

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra

November 2026

Fri

Nov 13

6:15 PM

CCO x AGO Friday Night Series

Four musicians and a lot more than four instruments, in the gallery on a Friday night.

Art Gallery of Ontario

Canadian Chamber Orchestra

Sat

Nov 14

11:00 AM

Mozart & Beethoven: Relaxed Performance

Mozart and Beethoven from the full TSO in a relaxed morning concert: house lights up, and moving around or making noise is welcome.

Roy Thomson Hall

Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Sun

Nov 15

4:00 PM

MUSE — What Makes It Great? with Rob Kapilow (Mendelssohn Octet)

Rob Kapilow takes Mendelssohn's Octet apart with live examples, then the whole octet plays it. The best possible first chamber concert.

Jane Mallett Theatre

Music Toronto

Thu

Nov 26

7:30 PM

James Ehnes Plays Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, then Saint-Saëns's "Organ Symphony" on the hall's pipe organ. You'll know the finale from the movie Babe.

Roy Thomson Hall

Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Sat

Nov 28

8:00 PM

Jean-Michel Blais

The Montreal pianist-composer's music sits right next to Richter and Ólafur Arnalds, here with harp and electronics.

Koerner Hall

Royal Conservatory of Music

December 2026

Tue

Dec 1

7:30 PM

Festival of Carols

Carols old and new with audience sing-alongs, in a big resonant church.

Yorkminster Park Baptist Church

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir

Thu

Dec 3

7:30 PM

Elf in Concert

The whole film with the score played live. A zero-pressure first night at the symphony.

Roy Thomson Hall

Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Sat

Dec 12

7:30 pm

A Medieval Christmas — Celestial Revelations

Dame Emma Kirkby joins for Hildegard of Bingen's music. Christmas nearly a thousand years back.

Trinity St. Paul's United Church

The Toronto Consort

Tue

Dec 15

7:30 PM

Messiah

The TSO and Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. When "Hallelujah" starts, the hall stands.

Roy Thomson Hall

Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Thu

Dec 17

7:30 PM

Handel Messiah (2026)

Messiah on period instruments, the way Handel's audience heard it. It sounds like a different piece from the big-hall version.

Trinity St. Paul's United Church

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra

Sat

Dec 19

7:30 PM

An Indigo Christmas: Brown King | Great Joy (7:30 PM)

Margaret Bonds's Ballad of the Brown King and carols from around the world in gospel arrangements.

Grace Church on-the-Hill

Nathaniel Dett Chorale

Sat

Dec 19

3:00 PM

An Indigo Christmas: Brown King | Great Joy (3:00 PM)

Margaret Bonds's Ballad of the Brown King and carols from around the world in gospel arrangements.

Grace Church on-the-Hill

Nathaniel Dett Chorale

January 2027

Wed

Jan 27

8:00 PM

"BIG!" Presented by the Esprit Orchestra

Orchestra, choir, a jazz big band and remixed archival footage on a big screen.

Koerner Hall

Esprit Orchestra

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