Jesse Cook at Centre in the Square
2025-03-01 19:30 - 21:30 (America/Toronto) | Centre in the Square, 101 Queen St. N, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H6P7, Canada
Attila Glatz Concert Productions presents…
Jesse Cook‘s musical legacy spans more than 25 years. An accomplished guitarist and producer, he has performed his unique brand of rhythm and rhumba in thousands of concerts around the world, sold more than 2 million albums, and recorded 5 PBS specials. His music videos have garnered more than 25 million views on YouTube and his songs have been streamed more than 400 million times.
Now, Jesse and his extraordinary band are performing hit songs from his 14 studio albums for audiences in Toronto and beyond.

2025 Markham Jazzilicious Winterfest: Jay Douglas All Star Band @ Rouge River
2025-03-04 18:00 - 2025-03-08 20:00 | Rouge River Brewing Company, 50 Bullock Dr #8, Markham, ON, L3P 3P2
Markham’s Jazzlicious WinterFest Featuring Jay Douglas All Star Band!
Celebrate the remarkable career of Jay Douglas, a Canadian music icon whose velvety voice and dynamic stage presence have shaped reggae, ska, soul, blues, and jazz for over five decades. From his roots in Jamaica to his role as a key figure in Toronto’s vibrant Caribbean music scene, Jay’s influence is legendary.
The evening’s culinary delights will be served up by Head Brewer Jordan Mills and Chef Jezza Morrison.
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An Evening with Los Lobos
2025-03-07 20:00 - 22:00 | Centre in the Square, 101 Queen St. N, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H6P7, Canada
The multiple Grammy Award-winning Mexican-American rock band from East Los Angeles, California comes to Centre In The Square for an acoustic show. Los Lobos effortlessly fuses rock, Tex-Mex, folk, and blues with rhythmic beats and heartfelt lyrics, creating a genre-bending nostalgic experience. Their eclectic sound resonates with authenticity and their traditional Mexican roots, inspiring listeners all around the globe.
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Roseanne Cash @ Koerner Hall
2025-03-07 20:00 - 22:00 | Koerner Hall, 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Canada
One of America’s preeminent singer-songwriters, Rosanne Cash has released 15 albums of extraordinary songs that have earned 4 Grammy Awards, 12 Grammy nominations, and numerous other accolades for songwriting and sound recordings. Also an accomplished author, Cash’s 2010 memoir Composed garnered widespread praise from critics and landed on The New York Times bestseller list.
Late last year, Rosanne and her husband and songwriting, producing, and performing partner, six-time Grammy Award-winning guitarist John Leventhal, launched a new record label, RumbleStrip Records to re-examine and re-release Rosanne’s early period recordings. A 30th Anniversary remastered edition of the Cash/Leventhal produced album The Wheel was the inaugural release, music from which will be performed at this concert.
After the concert, enjoy a beverage and more music at the Postlude Performance featuring folk-pop duo Chris & Nicole.
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Chris Botti @ Massey Hall
2025-03-12 20:00 - 22:00 | Massey Hall, 178 Victoria St., Toronto, Canada
GRAMMY-winning trumpeter Chris Botti has been one of the most popular instrumentalists in the world for nearly three decades; he’s collaborated with some of the biggest superstars on the planet, including Sting, Paul Simon, Barbra Streisand, Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Joni Mitchell, Steven Tyler, Andrea Bocelli, Herbie Hancock, Yo-Yo Ma, and others; he’s topped the jazz charts with numerous albums, earned multiple Gold and Platinum records, performed with symphony orchestras and on prestigious stages from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl to the Sydney Opera House.
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Chris Botti @ Centre in the Square
2025-03-13 20:00 - 22:00 | Centre in the Square, 101 Queen St. N, Kitchener, Ontario, N2H6P7, Canada
GRAMMY-winning trumpeter CHRIS BOTTI has been one of the most popular instrumentalists in the world for nearly three decades; he’s collaborated with some of the biggest superstars on the planet, including Sting, Paul Simon, Barbra Streisand, Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Joni Mitchell, Steven Tyler, Andrea Bocelli, Herbie Hancock, Yo-Yo Ma, and others; he’s topped the jazz charts with numerous albums, earned multiple Gold and Platinum records, performed with symphony orchestras and on prestigious stages from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl to the Sydney Opera House. In short, Chris Botti really needs no introduction. Yet with his Blue Note Records debut, he’s offering one anyway. Vol.1 is in many ways a fresh start for the trumpeter. Having successfully crossed over from jazz renown to pop stardom, Botti’s first album in more than a decade finds him crossing back, with a small group project focused on acoustic jazz and classic standards.
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Live to Air: Shuffle Demons
2025-03-14 20:00 - 21:00 | ON
On Friday, March 14 at 8PM EST, we’ll be treated to a Live to Air concert with the Shuffle Demons as they celebrate their 40th anniversary with a brand new album!
Tune in live at 8pm EST on Friday, March 14. Please note that this Live to Air is not open to the public.
Watch on Youtube!

Bravo Niagara! presents Marcus Miller
2025-03-15 19:30 - 22:00 | Partridge Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, 50 St Paul St, St Catherines, ON, L2R 3M2, Canada
Marcus Miller has been dubbed one of the most influential artists of our time. At the top of his game for over 30 years, he is a two-time Grammy award winner, (U.S.), winner of the 2013 Edison Award for Lifetime Achievement In Jazz (Holland), winner of the 2010 Victoire du Jazz (France) and in 2013, was appointed a UNESCO Artist For Peace. His characteristic bass sound can be heard on a limitless catalog of musical hits from Bill Wither’s “Just The Two Of Us” , to Luther Vandross’ “Never Too Much”, to songs from Chaka Khan, David Sanborn, Herbie Hancock, Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, George Benson, Elton John and Bryan Ferry to name a few.
With his distinctive style – a unique combination of funk, groove, soul and pure technical skills – Miller has been referred to as one of the most significant bass players in jazz, R &B, fusion and soul. Bass Player Magazine includes him on its list of ten most influential jazz players of this generation.
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Pink Martini feat. China Forbes at FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre
2025-03-20 19:30 - 22:00 | Partridge Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, 50 St Paul St, St Catherines, ON, L2R 3M2, Canada
Pink Martini celebrates 30 years! Partridge Hall will be filled with the talent of this little orchestra as they perform a multilingual repertoire crossing genres of classical, jazz, and old fashioned pop for an inclusive musical soundtrack.
Featuring a dozen musicians with songs in 25 languages, Pink Martini performs its multilingual repertoire on concert stages and with symphony orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, Northern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South America and North America. Pink Martini made its European debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 and its orchestral debut with the Oregon Symphony in 1998 under the direction of Norman Leyden.
Since then, the band has gone on to play with more than 70 orchestras around the world, including multiple engagements with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Boston Pops, the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, the San Francisco Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony at the Sydney Opera House, and the BBC Concert Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall in London.

Ernie Kalwa Jazz - Premier Jazz Quartet featuring NY Baritone Saxophonist Gary Smulyan
2025-03-23 20:00 - 22:00 | Martin Luther University College – Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3C5, Canada
Ernie Kalwa’s Premier Jazz Quartet featuring New York Baritone Saxophonist Gary Smulyan.
Come join us for a fun and unforgettable evening of
“A Tribute to 1960s Jazz and Bossa Nova”
with Ernie Kalwa’s Premier Jazz Quartet
and New York Baritone Saxophonist
Gary Smulyan!
This is a rare opportunity to experience world-class Jazz right in your own backyard.
Don’t miss out on this incredible musical event!
The Premier Jazz Quartet is:
Ernie Kalwa – Tenor and Baritone Sax
Bradley Moggach – Piano
Greg Prior – Bass
Michael Wood – Drums
Special Guest: Gary Smulyan – Baritone Sax
Location and Parking
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FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre presents Ladysmith Black Mambazo
2025-03-25 19:30 - 22:00 | Partridge Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, 50 St Paul St, St Catherines, ON, L2R 3M2, Canada
For 64 years, South Africa’s five-time Grammy Award winners, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has warmed the hearts of audiences worldwide with uplifting vocal harmonies, signature dance moves and charming onstage banter.
It was Paul Simon’s 1986 Graceland album that introduced Ladysmith Black Mambazo to the world. The late former South African President Nelson Mandela designated the group “South Africa’s cultural ambassadors to the world,” a title the members carry with them with the highest honour. In 2018 the group received not one, but two Grammy Award nominations for two separate albums, a first in the history of World Music.
These two nominations brought their career total to 19 Grammy Award nominations. One of these albums, Shaka Zulu Revisited, won Best World Music Album. This was the group’s fifth Grammy Award win, the most for any World Music group. In 2019, Ladysmith Black Mambazo collaborated for the third time with the famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company on a production entitled Lindiwe and released an album with songs from the show.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo has performed for millions of people, singing a message of peace, love and harmony.
“It isn’t merely the grace and power of their dancing or the beauty of their singing that rivets the attention, but the sheer joy and love that emanates from their being.” — Paul Simon

Angélique Kidjo @ Koerner Hall
2025-03-25 20:00 - 22:30 | Koerner Hall, 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Canada
Five-time Grammy Award-winning African music icon Angélique Kidjo returns for her fourth appearance in Koerner Hall.
Over the last three decades, Kidjo has cemented her status as one of the most singular and extraordinary voices in international music, inspiring countless artists with her ingenuity, eclecticism, and seemingly boundless creative spirit. On her new album Mother Nature, she joins forces with many of her musical progeny, including some of the most captivating young creators of West African music, Afrobeat, Afro-pop, dancehall, hip-hop, and alt-R&B. The result is a truly visionary body of work, rooted in a deep understanding of musical tradition yet endlessly forward-thinking and inventive.
Presented in association with Batuki Music Society
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FEAST @ Tarragon Theatre
2025-04-01 08:00 - 2025-04-27 17:00 | Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Ave, Toronto, ON, Canada
A culinary tour, a global crisis, and yet, still always hungry. Can one ever be truly full? From celebrated artist Guillermo Verdecchia, Feast is a biting look at a world where some are movers and some are moved and how long we can last when your family is falling apart.
Mermaid or siren? Paradise or dystopia? Travel the globe, just don’t forget your loved ones…or your soul.
For more details, click here.

SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK & Kaia Kater
2025-04-04 20:00 - 22:30 | Meridian Arts Centre, 5040 Yonge St., Toronto, ON, M2N 6R8, Canada
Celebrating their 50th anniversary, SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK® is a powerful and unique concert entity with a theatrical flair that keeps avid audiences returning for more year after year. Opening is Grenadian-Canadian singer, songwriter, and banjo player, Kaïa Kater.
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Mahabharata Part One: Karma: The Life We Inherit
2025-04-08 08:00 - 2025-04-26 17:00 | Bluma Appel Theatre, 27 Front Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M5E 1B4, Canada
A Why Not Theatre Production presented by Canadian Stage with Why Not Theatre
Created and Written by Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes, using poetry from Carole Satyamurti’s Mahabharata: A Modern Retelling
From ancient verse to modern stage, experience a legend reborn
Mahabharata is a contemporary take on a Sanskrit epic that is more than four thousand years old and foundational to South Asian culture. This gripping story of a family feud is an exploration of profound philosophical and spiritual ideas. A visually stunning spectacle presented in two parts, Mahabharata takes audiences on a journey through the past in order to write a thrilling new future.
Exploring themes of storytelling, ecocide, and dharma (empathy), Part 1 begins Mahabharata’s epic journey that asks, “How can one end the spiral of revenge when everyone believes they are right and their opponents wrong?”
King Janamejaya is holding a ritual sacrifice in which he will kill all the snakes in the world to avenge his father’s death. In hopes of ending this cycle of revenge, a storyteller is summoned to tell King Janamejaya the tale of The Mahabharata. The storyteller tells of the rival Pandava and Kaurava clans, and the choices that lead to their infamous Game of Dice. Through playful narration, classical Indian dance, and a live band, the ensemble tells the stories of humans struggling to build a just world in the face of competition, jealousy, and rage.
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Benevolence at Tarragon Theatre
2025-04-08 08:00 - 2025-05-04 17:00 | Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Ave, Toronto, ON, Canada
Like many Canadians, Kevin’s always wondered about his roots. Kevin is Hakka (客家)…he thinks.
Out of the blue, he gets a phone call asking him to write a play about Hakka identity. For seniors. In Markham.
From creator and performer Kevin Matthew Wong (The Chemical Valley Project) comes a charming and intimate story that transforms into a layered Chinese-Canadian tale spanning continents, migrations, and generations.
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Jaymz Bee’s Caravan of Music
2025-04-09 19:30 - 2025-04-10 00:00 | The Old Mill Toronto, 21 Old Mill Road, Toronto, Canada
Jaymz Bee has spent the past decade celebrating his birthday by raising funds for various charities. For the past several years, he has raised funds for The Unison Fund, a Canadian charity that assists those in the music industry during crises. Bee was on the Unison Board of Directors for years and continues to raise tens of thousands from his parties.
Wednesday, April 9th, 2025, is the most significant event yet. 24 bands, over 100 musicians, and 4 DJs will perform in 13 rooms at Old Mill Toronto to raise money for The Unison Fund, a non-profit music industry organization providing counselling, emergency financial support, and other resources to the Canadian music community.
Jaymz Bee’s Caravan of Music is a four-hour event where hundreds of people tour the historic Old Mill Toronto rooms, taking in a few songs from each band. Tickets (a passport) are $48 each, with 100% of the door going to The Unison Fund and access to all rooms. You can enjoy over 120 musicians in one evening, performing various styles of music.
Caravan participants will have a map, along with their passport ticket, to help them find the various live music rooms: The Westminster Room, Drawing Room, Garden Room, Balmoral Room, Humber Room, Victoria Room, York Room, Mill Room, Main Dining Room, The Chapel, and more! The evening will end at midnight, but it will continue in the main dining room for those who don’t feel like going home.
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Mahabharata Part Two: Dharma: The Life We Choose
2025-04-11 08:00 - 2025-05-27 17:00 | Bluma Appel Theatre, 27 Front Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M5E 1B4, Canada
A Why Not Theatre Production presented by Canadian Stage with Why Not Theatre
Created and Written by Ravi Jain and Miriam Fernandes, using poetry from Carole Satyamurti’s Mahabharata: A Modern Retelling
A timeless epic, retold with stunning visuals, live music, and bold new storytelling
Continuing the story from Part 1, King Janamejaya is told of the war fought by his ancestors – the battle of Kurukshetra and its devastating destruction of the planet, the mass extinction that follows, and of the survivors left behind to rebuild.
In Mahabharata’s Part 2 (Dharma), the storytelling tools evolve into captivating projections, dynamic digital soundscapes, and poetic stage design. The stories delve simultaneously into philosophical and political ideas, and abstract and absolute truths. Interrogating the themes of justice and revenge, Part 2 includes a 15-minute Sanskrit opera adaptation of the Bhagavad Gita (The Song of God), which is the most famous chapter of the Mahabharata epic.
In times of division, how do we find wholeness? Are we destined to repeat the mistakes of our ancestors? Can we build a new world? King Janamejaya is confronted with both the battle of Kurukshetra and the battle inside his own heart.
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It Might As Well Be Spring Featuring the B-Jazzed Orchestra
2025-04-15 20:00 - 22:30 | The Rose Theatre Brampton, 1 Theatre Ln, Brampton, Ontario, L6V 0A3, Canada
Celebrate spring with timeless jazz standards like A Foggy Day, Stormy Weather, It Could Happen to You, and April in Paris, featuring the B-Jazzed Orchestra—an ensemble of top-tier musicians from Brampton and beyond. The evening kicks off with a special performance by the St. Roch Secondary School jazz band, with select students joining the B-Jazzed Orchestra onstage.
Stay for an engaging Q&A with the bandleaders, hosted by B-Jazzed Artistic Director Carmen Spada.
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Bizet's Carmen Suites @ Roy Thomson Hall
2025-04-25 19:30 - 2025-04-27 18:30 | Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe Street, Toronto, ON, M5J 2H5, Canada
Radiant rhythms and vibrant melodies await in this colourful celebración hispana, featuring Jimmy López’s spirited tribute to his native country’s Afro-Peruvian heritage, and Karen Gomyo’s blazing take on Astor Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, where classical music meets Argentinian tango. The fiesta culminates in the south of Spain with Bizet’s Carmen Suites, including the crowd-pleasing favourites “Habanera”, “Toreador Song”, and more.
Gustavo Gimeno, conductor
Karen Gomyo, violin
Jimmy López: Perú Negro
Piazzolla: The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Liam Ritz (RBC Affiliate Composer): Dance Scenes from the Living Room (World Première/TSO Commission)
Bizet: Carmen Suites Nos. 1 and 2
Friday, April 25, 2025 – 7:30PM
Saturday, April 26, 2025 – 8:30PM
Sunday, April 27, 2025 – 3PM
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Bravo Niagara presents Oscar Peterson Centennial Quartet with special guests
2025-04-26 19:00 - 22:00 | Recital Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, 250 St Paul St, St. Catharines, Ontario, L2R 3M2, Canada
2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of Canada’s most beloved icons, jazz legend Oscar Peterson.
Bravo Niagara! will commemorate this occasion with a performance from the ‘Oscar Peterson Centennial Quartet’ featuring Robi Botos and Justin Kauflin on piano, veteran of the Oscar Peterson Quartet, Ulf Wakenius on guitar, and JUNO Award winners Mike Downes on bass and Jim Doxas on drums. They will be joined by special guests Lex French (trumpet), Andrew McAnsh (trumpet), Colleen Allen (saxophone), and Matt Woroshyl (saxophone).
During the evening, Peterson’s youngest daughter, Céline Peterson, will join the band to offer the audience an intimate, anecdote-filled look into her father’s remarkable life and career.
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Where Are They Now? featuring Ewen Farncombe
2025-04-28 12:00 - 13:00 | Online/Virtual
Save the date for Monday, April 28 as we’ll be in conversation live on the jazz.fm91 Instagram with Ewen Farncombe for the next installment of Where Are They Now?
Ewen is a Juno-nominated pianist and composer based out of Toronto and has been a professional on the music scene for nearly a decade. While attending Humber College where he earned his degree in Music Performance, Ewen was a participant in jazz.fm91’s emerging artist program, Jazzology, supported by RBC Foundation.
Follow us on Instagram @jazzfm91 and tune in on Monday, April 28 at 12PM EST.
Where Are They Now? is jazz.fm91’s alumni series with artists from our Education & Outreach programs who are making their mark in the world of jazz! The conversations are hosted live exclusively on the jazz.fm91 Instagram Account.

International Jazz Day @ jazz.fm91
2025-04-30 - 2025-05-01 | jazz.fm91, 4 Pardee Avenue, Suite 100, Toronto, Canada
jazz.fm91 brings Canada to the world as we celebrate International Jazz Day 2025 with a day of special programming, live musical performances, and our very own Jazz Party – LIVE from the Long & McQuade Performance Hall!
Wednesday, April 30 is International Jazz Day and jazz.fm91 is celebrating in style, with a Live Jazz Party from 11-2, hosted by Heather Bambrick with Raina Hersh, featuring a full day of performances and special programming by:

Robi Botos (piano)
Jodi Proznick (bass)
Ben Wittman (drums)
Michael Ochipinti (guitar)
Molly Johnson (vocals)
Jane Bunnett (saxophones / flute)
Sam Dickinson (guitar)

Plus, tune into Afternoon Drive with Brad Barker, with surprise guests dropping by to join in the celebrations.

Established by the General Conference of UNESCO in 2011 and recognized by the United Nations General Assembly, International Jazz Day brings together countries and communities worldwide every 30 April. The annual International Jazz Day celebration highlights the power of jazz and its role in promoting peace, dialogue among cultures, diversity and respect for human dignity.
International Jazz Day has become a global movement reaching more than 2 billion people annually on all continents through education programmes, performances, community outreach, radio, television and streaming, along with electronic, print and social media. The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz is the lead nonprofit organization charged with planning, promoting and producing International Jazz Day each year.
jazz.fm91 International Jazz Day is a closed event and not open to the public.

CCAH May Soirée 2025
2025-05-03 18:00 - 23:00 | OE Banquet & Conference Centre, 2245 Speers Road, Oakville, Ontario, L6L 6X8, Canada
Come celebrate 48 years of Culture and History! A fundraising event for CCAH’s children and youth programs.
Join us as we create community harmony with a night of entertainment, cuisine and good vibes!
Dr. Rosemary Sadlier, Order of Ontario appointee and renowned diversity, inclusion, and equity consultant, social justice advocate, researcher, writer and international speaker, will be joining us as the keynote speaker.
Entertainment include Juno Award Winning jazz pianist, composer, arranger and producer Eddie Bullen, and CCAH Steel Band music. Capping off the evening will be a fun night of dancing accompanied by DJ Glen Als.
4 course dinner featuring delicious and eclectic Afro-Caribbean dishes.
Awards Ceremony recognizing outstanding contribution to the Halton community.
Giveaways and Raffles.
$150 Individual | $1,300 Table of 10
Tickets are non-refundable.
Dress Code: Traditional/Formal.
Interested in being a corporate sponsor? Email info@ccah.ca for details.

Eliades Ochoa @ Koerner Hall
2025-05-10 20:00 - 22:00 | Koerner Hall, 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Canada
The Grammy Award-winning Cuban singer, guitarist, and songwriter, well known and loved worldwide as one of the original members of Buena Vista Social Club, performs songs from his new album Guajiro as well as Buena Vista classics.
Ochoa is considered one of the most renowned Cuban “soneros” of all time, a notable defender of traditional Cuban music, and the best guitarist of his generation. His distinctive cowboy hat and his penchant for wearing black have led some to call him “The Cuban Johnny Cash.”
“Ochoa’s voice is razor sharp. His intonation is deep and resonant … soaring not just from his lips, but from the world of Santiago de Cuba, to all over the world.” (Latin Jazz Network)

Bravo Niagara! Presents Samara Joy
2025-05-15 19:30 - 21:30 | Central Niagara, 680 York Road, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, L0S 1J0, Canada
Presented as part of the Bravo Niagara! TD Jazz Series
Few figures in jazz history have experienced the kind of success that vocalist Samara Joy has, especially at such a young age. Still only 25, she leads a career that can safely be called sensational.
To date she’s received five Grammy Awards, including one for Best New Artist that has given the committed jazz singer the profile of a pop celebrity and made her a steady presence on network TV. With millions of likes on TikTok, Joy has helped new, young generations of music fans discover timeless American music. Her performance credits read like a list of the most legendary venues and events in all of jazz and R&B, among them the Newport, Monterey and Montreal Jazz Festivals, the Apollo, the Village Vanguard and Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Throughout Joy’s rise, her press has been glowing, to say the least. Of Linger Awhile, her breakout Verve Records debut, DownBeat commented, “With this beautiful recording, a silky-voiced star is born.” The New York Times called her a “silky-voiced rising star,” while NPR named her a “classic jazz singer from a new generation.” One sold-out concert at a time, she’s earned a reputation as a masterful interpreter of jazz standards and a rightful heiress of the sound, technique and charisma that defined her jazz heroines — including Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln and Carmen McRae. Remarkably, she didn’t truly immerse herself in the jazz tradition until college.

Rhiannon Giddens @ Koerner Hall
2025-05-15 20:00 - 22:00 | Koerner Hall, 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Canada
Grammy Award-winning banjo superstar, sublime vocalist, and critics’ darling, Rhiannon Giddens uses her art to excavate the past and reveal bold truths about our present. Giddens’s lifelong mission is to lift up people whose contributions to American musical history have previously been erased, and to work toward a more accurate understanding of the country’s musical origins. Pitchfork has said of her work, “few artists are so fearless and so ravenous in their exploration,” and Smithsonian Magazine calls her “an electrifying artist who brings alive the memories of forgotten predecessors, white and black.”
On May 8, 2023, Giddens was awarded the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Music for the opera Omar, which she co-wrote with Michael Abels (Get Out, Nope).
Rhiannon Giddens, vocals, minstrel, banjo, modern banjo & viola
Justin Robinson, vocals, fiddle & banjo
Dirk Powell, vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle & accordion
Amelia Powell, vocals & acoustic guitar
Jason Sypher, bass
Demeanor, vocals & banjo

Massey Hall Presents Samara Joy
2025-05-16 20:00 - 22:30 | Massey Hall, 178 Victoria St., Toronto, Canada
A native of the Bronx, Samara Joy became entranced by classic R&B as a child and cut her teeth as a singer in her church’s gospel choir. And while her family history is deeply musical—her grandparents helmed the Philadelphia gospel group the Savettes, and her father, the musician and songwriter Antonio McLendon, has produced, composed, and arranged his own astounding original work—she didn’t delve into the jazz tradition until college at SUNY Purchase.
During her studies there, she won the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, which introduced her to the larger jazz scene as a rising star to watch. She was heard, by audiences and critics alike, as a masterful interpreter of jazz standards and a rightful heiress of the sound, technique, and charisma that defined her jazz heroines—including Vaughan, Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln, and Carmen McRae.
Joy released her self-titled debut on the Whirlwind label in 2021, followed a year later by Linger Awhile, her breakout Verve debut, of which DownBeat said, “With this beautiful recording, a silky-voiced star is born.” The album earned her a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album, in addition to a headline-making win for Best New Artist. A deluxe edition of the album was released, as well as the EP A Joyful Holiday.
Her new Verve album, Portrait, which Joy co-produced with the veteran trumpeter/bandleader and multi-Grammy winner Brian Lynch, showcases the intimate, soulful chemistry she’s developed with her touring band. Portrait also spotlights her burgeoning gifts as a lyricist, in ingenious arrangements that meld her thoughtful words with music by Charles Mingus, Sun Ra, and her late mentor Barry Harris.
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After the Rain @ Tarragon Theatre
2025-05-27 08:00 - 2025-06-22 17:00 | Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Ave, Toronto, ON, Canada
After The Rain
A World Premiere of a New Canadian Musical from Tarragon Theatre & The Musical Stage Company
Book by Rose Napoli
Music & Lyrics by Suzy Wilde
Directed by Marie Farsi
Music Direction by Rachel O’Brien
Her parents are famous. Her boyfriend is stupid. And Suzie is a mess. When she accepts a mature piano student obsessed with mastering only one song, Erik Satie’s “Gymnopedie No. 1”, struggling songwriter Suzie’s life takes an unforeseen turn. Full of family turmoil, life’s complexities, and centred around a devastating discovery, After the Rain is a musical based on a true story about the healing power of music.
May 27-June 22
Cost: $22 – $44
Tarragon Theatre
30 Bridgman Ave
Toronto, ON Canada
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Beethoven's Eroica
2025-05-28 08:00 - 2025-05-31 17:00 | Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe Street, Toronto, ON, M5J 2H5, Canada
Experience the heroic and triumphant grandeur of Beethoven’s “Eroica”, a symphony that uplifts with its stirring power and grand themes, in this program conducted by Kristiina Poska. The concert opens with Arvo Pärt’s meditative Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten, an homage to the British composer, followed by Callaloo—A Caribbean Suite for Piano and Orchestra by Stewart Goodyear, a vibrant piece written and performed by the composer and pianist, inspired by the joy and energy of Caribbean music and culture.
Enhance your concert experience by arriving early for exquisite performances by the TSO Chamber Soloists, thoughtfully curated by Jonathan Crow. There will be a pre-concert performance at 6:45pm included with the price of your ticket to the Wednesday, May 28 performance.
Join us for a special performance by members of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra. A pre-concert performance will take place in the North Lobby at 6:45pm on Friday, May 30, and 7:15pm on Saturday, May 31, included with the price of your ticket to the performance.
