Here’s what we’re looking forward to this season! All concerts take place at the HELICONIAN HALL, 35 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto. All individual ticket prices are pay-what-you-wish.
EPHEMERA: CORELLI in CHINA
Saturday, September 20, 2025 @ 7:30 p.m.
Walk alongside a young, musical missionary, Pedrini, as he plays under Corelli’s direction in Rome, before setting off for China. Pedrini brings Corelli’s influence into the heart of the Chinese imperial court in the form of his own violin sonatas, inspired by Corelli’s. Music to be performed includes solo and trio sonatas by Corelli, Bononcini, Pasquini and Pedrini.
Cristina Zacharias, baroque violin; Jin Cho, baroque flute; Margaret Jordan Gay, baroque ‘cello; Louise Hung, harpsichord. Projected visuals and soundscapes by Matthew Antal.
Tickets: https://bemusednetwork.com/events/detail/1044
IN THE KEY OF COCTEAU
Friday, November 21, 2025 @ 7:30 p.m.
North Wind Concerts is delighted to be collaborating with the Toronto Silent Film Festival for a screening of Jean Cocteau‘s film The Blood of a Poet, with an improvised musical accompaniment provided by Ben Grossman, Alison Melville, Colin Savage and Deb Sinha. For more information: https://www.torontosilentfilmfestival.com/special-screenings.html
Tickets: https://www.torontosilentfilmfestival.com/
Something Rich & Strange: There will also be a creative music workshop with Ben Grossman on Saturday November 22 at 1:30 p.m. at the Heliconian Hall. All are welcome! Tickets: https://bemusednetwork.com/events/detail/1063
WINTER’S DELIGHT: Musical Merriment with Good Company
Saturday January 24, 2026 @ 7:30 p.m. at St. Thomas’s Anglican Church
Happy new year! On January 24, The Musicians of the Egg gather to present music full of warmth and good cheer from the European Renaissance. Chansons, madrigals, dance tunes, motets and fantasias from the 15th and 16th centuries, performed with voices, lute, hurdy gurdy, flutes, recorders and percussion, are guaranteed to brighten up January’s darkness.
Join us for musical merriment as we celebrate the renewal of our musical collaboration with music by Lassus, Byrd, Campion, Weelkes, Crequillon, Eccard, Morley and others performed in the beautiful acoustics of St. Thomas’s Anglican Church on Huron Street.
Michele Deboer, soprano; Laura Pudwell, mezzo; Cory Knight, tenor; Olivier Laquerre, baritone; Ben Grossman, percussion & hurdy gurdy; Alison Melville, recorder & flute; Jonathan Stuchbery, lute.
Presented with the generous support of Greig Dunn.
Tickets: https://bemusednetwork.com/events/detail/1062
ENCIRCLING the WORLD – Harps!
Saturday, February 7, 2026 @ 7:30 p.m.
Encircling the World is a musical project designed to illuminate the common experience of musicians and music lovers from many traditions. Yes, there are differences in instruments and traditions, but what do we share, what do we have in common, how can we inspire one another, and what is this beautiful thing called music?
This fifth installment of EtW offers an evening with harpists from South American, European and African traditions. Performers include Julia Seager Scott, clarsach; Martha Mazzoleni, Paraguayan harp; and one other to be confirmed shortly!
Each musician will play a solo set and speak about what they choose to share about their musical education, experience, views on music’s role in their lives and their communities, and so on.. They’ll also improvise some music together, and there will be time for questions and discussion with the audience. Always a fascinating and ear-opening musical time – join us!
Tickets: https://bemusednetwork.com/events/detail/1046
PLAYLIST for LOUIS
Friday, March 20, 2026 @ 7:30 p.m.
The French Baroque at its most personal, featuring chamber music first composed for the royal family in the palace of Versailles. Our program will feature works for one to three parts written by Jacques Hotteterre, members of the Philidor family, and other musicians working at the court of Louis XIV. Whatever your opinion of the Sun King’s administration of his realm, the music that accompanied his more personal activities is some of the most beautiful of the era, and a true delight to play.
Join Alison Melville, recorder & traverso; Jin Cho, traverso; Jonathan Stuchbery, theorbo; Louise Hung, harpsichord; and Felix Deak, bass viol, as they explore this wonderful soundworld and distinctive music of the early 18th-century.
Tickets: https://bemusednetwork.com/events/detail/1045
ENCIRCLING the WORLD – CLARINETS
Friday April 24, 2026 @ 7:30 p.m.
Encircling the World is a musical project designed to illuminate the common experience of musicians and music lovers from many traditions. Yes, there may be differences in instruments or musical traditions, but what do we share, what do we have in common, how can we inspire one another, and what is this beautiful thing called music? This sixth installment of EtW offers an evening with clarinetists playing in Syrian, Klezmer and early European traditions. The performers are Majd Sukar, Jonno Lightstone and Colin Savage.
Each player will perform a solo set and share thoughts about their musical background, experience, views on music’s role in their lives and their communities, and so on. They’ll also improvise some music together, and there will be time for questions and discussion with the audience. Always a fascinating and ear-opening musical time – join us!
There will also be a workshop with Majd Sukar and Jonno Lightstone on the afternoon of Sunday April 26. Stay tuned for more details.
Tickets: https://bemusednetwork.com/events/detail/1060
QUEENS of HEARTS
Saturday May 9, 2026 @ 7:30 p.m.
Women living in England at the turn of the 17th century were expected to play instruments and sing to improve their marriage prospects, but to be composers and professional musicians was an avenue unavailable to them. Despite this, through the keyboard music of Bull and Byrd, the lute songs of Coprario and Johnson, and the gamba music of Hume, we catch a glimpse of the heights of domestic music through the life of young Princess Elizabeth Stuart.
On the continent in Italy, convents provided vibrant musical communities where women could both perform and compose music, as heard in the music of Claudia Francesca Rusca and Francesca Caccini. Following Francesca and Settimia Caccini, and Luciana Quinciani, we explore how they navigated 17th century Italy as professional musicians and composers.
Jane Fingler, soprano; Louise Hung, virginal; Jonathan Stuchbery, lute; Felix Deak, bass viol.
Tickets: https://bemusednetwork.com/events/detail/1047
