Toronto - October 2023 The Bloor St. Culture Corridor
Happy October! BCC organizations continue to welcome audiences back with groundbreaking exhibits and exciting concerts. Plus, take in some language classes, join a choir, catch a documentary or two - the Bloor Street Culture Corridor has something for everyone.
To make sure you get even more up-to-date notices, be sure to follow our social media channels - Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. You never know what you'll discover next!
Alliance Française de Toronto
Join the Alliance Française this October for an exhilarating celebration of Family Animation Month. They've curated a fantastic series of events that will delight audiences of all ages. On October 12 and 19, prepare for enchanting animated film nights featuring "Fireheart" and "The Wild Life," perfect for the whole family to enjoy. Plus, on October 10, two additional films connected to the Bulles exhibition will be screened, adding to the cinematic adventure. But the excitement doesn't stop there. October brings two exceptional concerts to our stage. On October 14, let the melodies of Maude Audet serenade you, followed by a mesmerizing performance by Le Poème Harmonique on October 31. And for those who appreciate dance, mark October 26 on your calendar. A captivating dance performance fusing hip-hop, classical, and contemporary styles will grace their stage, promising a truly unique and memorable experience. Visit their website for more details.
The Japan Foundation, Toronto
The Japan Foundation, Toronto is excited to welcome guests to its new exhibition on modern Netsuke. These wood-carved miniature decorations are skillfully crafted and small enough to fit into one’s hand. The exhibition will run until December 16, 2023. JFT is looking forward to a string of Halloween-related events. On October 17, foley artist KOYAMA Goro will demonstrate how he produces sound effects for cinema, including for scary movies. On October 21, the JFT Library will host Japanese scary storytelling time for kids, and guests are encouraged to arrive in costume. That same day, JFT will screen Summer Days with Coo, an animated film featuring a kappa, or Japanese river spirit. Then, on October 27, Dr. Glynne Walley will deliver a riveting talk on yokai, or Japanese monsters, to further enliven the Halloween atmosphere. For more information about both in-person and virtual events at JFT, please visit their website.
Istituto Italiano di Cultura
On October 3, The Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Diamond Schmitt Architects and MAXXI Museo nazionale della arti del XXI secolo, will host the lecture Buone Nuove Good News. Women In Architecture (in Italy, Canada, and internationally) with MAXXI’s Pippo Ciorra, architect, author, critic, curator and professor, and Maria Claudia Clemente, architect and co-founder and director of Labics (Rome). At the Alliance Française, Spadina Theatre. On October 17, to mark the 100th anniversary of Italo Calvino’s birth, the Istituto will host Prof. Paolo Granata (UofT), who will present his new book Six Memos for a Hyperconnected World: The Lasting Legacy of Italo Calvino. The book presentation will be part of the opening of the exhibition Calvino qui e altrove (Calvino here and elsewhere), which offers a visual history of the covers of the iconic writer’s most famous books. For more information, visit their website.
The Royal Conservatory
The Royal Conservatory's October concerts start with the award-winning Easter Island pianist Mahani Teave performing works by Bach, Liszt, Chopin, and more on October 1. Grammy Award-winning violinist Augustin Hadelich performs works by Beethoven, Prokofiev, John Adams, and more with pianist Orion Weiss on October 13. Genre-defying masterful sitarist Anoushka Shankar returns with a new quintet of musicians on October 14. The ‘Palestinian Frank Sinatra’ Omar Kamal performs with a Toronto all-star big band featuring pianist Rob Barron, multiple Juno Award-winners Allison Au, Michael Occhipinti, and Roberto Occhipinti, and more on October 20. Juno Award-winning pianist Robi Botos takes us on a trip through Roma-inspired jazz piano with Joanna Majoko, Mike Downes, Tim Ries, Larnell Lewis, and more on October 21. Vocal ensemble Chanticleer will perform their greatest hits on October 27. Soul/gospel/R&B pioneer Mavis Staples returns for another stunning performance on October 28. Head to their website to learn more.
VEMU Estonian Museum Canada
Join VEMU on October 4 at 7pm for their first “Keelekohvik”/ Estonian language cafe for a chance to practice your Estonian and enhance your language studies! The cafe is for all those who want to speak Estonian, regardless of level, who are looking to practice chatting about everyday topics in a relaxed environment. On October 18, VEMU will be hosting an evening with Tarmo Tuule - Estonian children’s author, crossword master and creator of board games. Here, you can hear about his publishing work, books, games and more! A new exhibit, "Why Estonia? The 30-year Journey from the USSR to e-Estonia" will also be on view at Tartu College from September 23 to February 29. Originally opened in 2021 at Vabamu Museum of Occupation and Freedom in Tallinn, this exhibit takes a look back at the birth of a digital nation, its achievements over the years and what the future holds in store. More information can be found at their website.
Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema
Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema will kick off its fall 2023 season with theatrical runs of popular Hot Docs Festival 2023 selections: Joan Baez I Am a Noise, a deeply personal exploration of an iconic artist who has never told the full truth of her life until now; and Black Barbie, a joyful and intriguing story about the creation and evolution of Black Barbie. Curious Minds Author Talks welcomes best-selling authors Naomi Klein and Chloe Gong, and Eric Ripert—chef of NYC's iconic Le Bernardin—to discuss their latest books. The Hot Docs Podcast Festival returns on October 19 for its first live in-person edition since 2019! We're bringing your favourite audio storytellers out of your headphones and onto our stage for an "audiophile's paradise." Passes and tickets now on sale for The New Yorker Fiction Podcast featuring Margaret Atwood, Dinner SOS with Bon Appétit food director Chris Morocco, Q with Tom Power featuring Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew, and many more. Visit the Hot Docs website to view their programming schedule.
ROM
Just in time for Halloween, Death: Life’s Greatest Mystery exhibition opens October 28, 2023. Learn how life and death are part of a universal, continuous, and cyclical process. Through artifacts, specimens and immersive media experiences, this thought-provoking exhibition explores cultural and natural responses to life and death. Get the party started early, buy tickets to the most popular ROM After Dark, Trick or Treat, on October 27 for early access to the exhibition. Buy tickets and learn more at their website.
IMAGE CREDIT: © Field Museum, Michelle Kuo
Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre
The Miles Nadal JCC invites you to bring your instruments and voices to join their Klezmer Ensemble with Director Eric Stein and/or their Daytime Choir with Director Asher Farber - both start on October 10. On October 12 they launch their Suzuki Early Childhood Music Class with Kate Shaner. Learn about the Architectural World of Moshe Safdie with Dr. Peter Harris in a two-part series starting on October 12. The Birth of Jewish Pop Rock is a lecture series with Jordan Klapman beginning on October 16. In their Gallery: Into the Orchard, by Ya'ara Eshet is an exploration of Judaism in honour of their 70th anniversary; it closes October 29. Sharoni Sibony leads the community in a one-day workshop on Restorative Creativity on October 21. Come to a play reading of Camp, by Naomi Tessler, performed by Naomi Tessler and Julie Tepperman in the Al Green Theatre on Sunday October 29. All this and more at their website.
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir
Join Tafelmusik October 13-15, 2023 for Vive la différence and prepare to lose your heart to a rivalry of beautiful music led by French-Italian violinist Emmanuel Resche-Caserta, whose “remarkable direction is coupled with superb violin playing, ease, and virtuosity” (ForumOpera). Explore the rediscovered works of Antonia Bembo and Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, two remarkable women composing within this era. Dive into the vivid rivalry between French and Italian baroque styles, epitomized by Lully and Corelli. Tickets start at $47 and are available at their website.
Gardiner Museum
This fall esteemed British-Kenyan artist Dame Magdalene Odundo will make her Canadian debut at the Gardiner Museum. Since the early 1980s, Odundo has pursued a singular vision centered on the refined, magisterial ceramic vessel. Made entirely by hand and finished to a smooth, lustrous sheen, these works are uniquely her own while synthesizing traditions of ceramics and other media from multiple global cultures. Opening on October 19, the exhibition Magdalene Odundo: A Dialogue with Objects brings together works spanning the artist’s career, including new pieces directly from her studio. Odundo’s work will be in dialogue with art and artifacts from many time periods and cultures, ranging from ancient Mediterranean figurines to monumental Abstract Expressionist painting, to explore the connections that unite us as humans. Learn more.
University of Toronto Faculty of Music
The University of Toronto Faculty of Music opens October with a special side-by-side concert event October 6 at 7:30pm. Led by visiting professor and international star Marianne Piketty, the concert features guests from the Conservatoire National Superieur de musique de Lyon performing works by Stravinsky, Enesco and Menut. October 10 to 12 the Faculty of Music welcomes soprano Patricia Caicedo, 2023-2024 John R. Stratton Visitor in Music, for a residency that includes several public lectures, master classes and a Thursdays at Noon recital October 12. October 23 at 7:30pm, William Leathers, Principal Trumpet of the Nashville Symphony, presents a solo recital as part of an exciting week in Toronto. Closing out an inspiring month of events, Marion Newman, critically acclaimed mezzo soprano and host of CBC’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, returns October 31 at 12:10pm to shed new light on Opera and Song repertoire. Visit their website.
Toronto Reference Library
What’s at stake when voices are silenced, civil discourse erodes and access to information is narrowed? TPL explores the risks when intellectual freedom is threatened in a new series featuring global activists to warrior librarians in Ukraine to Big Tech whistleblowers. These programs, exhibits and installations will engage Torontonians in some of the most critical conversations of our time. The lineup is part of TPL’s On Civil Society series. Find out more at tpl.ca/AtStake.
Bata Shoe Museum
The Bata Shoe Museum is partnering with Toronto Botanical Garden for a panel discussion on the cultural meaning and signification of the botanical choices we make in textile adornment, garden design, and shoemaking on Wednesday, October 11 at 7:30pm. On October 12, join the BSM and The Music Gallery for Shoe Horn: a musical takeover of the Museum where you can peruse the galleries while getting serenaded by the sounds of some of Toronto’s best improvisers. They’re excited to be part of the Hot Docs Podcast Festival on October 20 for Articles of Interest. For this live episode, Avery Trufelman teams up with influential designer and activist Aurora James and Elizabeth Semmelhack for what is sure to be a memorable conversation. This Halloween they will be celebrating in costume and invite you to join them on October 28 and 29 for trick-or-treating stations throughout the museum, hands-on crafts for the whole family and so much more! There’s always something new at the BSM - keep up with them on their website.
Women's Art Association of Canada
Dignam Gallery presents Taking Turns, featuring WAAC member artists from October 4 to 14. Ruth Upjohn Gallery presents a Fundraising Boutique from October 3 to 14, and a solo exhibition of WAAC member artist Karen Zavitz from October 18 to 28. Artist's Voice FREE Speaker Series presents Hope in the Plasticene with Kalliopi Monoyios, sharing her work and career path that led her to believe that curiosity and wonder are the emotions to motivate action in the face of the plastic pollution problem. Artist's Hand Workshop Series - 3-day Collagraph Workshop with Loree Ovens will take place in-person, starting October 5; A Fence, an Ear, and a Song, with Frank Rodick, a 6-week, virtual workshop will start on November 1. For more information, please visit their website.
The Bloor St. Culture Corridor, Toronto's most diverse arts and culture district, is a true creative cluster, an arts and culture destination, and a collaboration between some of Toronto's most dynamic arts and culture organizations.
The Bloor St. Culture Corridor offers the public a wide variety of arts genres, from museum experiences to films, art exhibitions to music concerts, and opportunities to experience some of Toronto's cultural diversity, including Aboriginal, French, Jewish, Italian, Japanese, Estonian, African and Caribbean arts and culture.
All Bloor St. Culture Corridor organizations present arts and cultural events for the public year-round in destination venues located in a cluster along a vibrant stretch of Bloor Street West. Each year more than three million members of the public go to Bloor St. Culture Corridor arts and culture destinations, and attend exhibitions, performances, and events. Together, the Bloor St. Culture Corridor organizations employ more than 5,500 culture workers and generate more than $629,500,000 in economic impact each year. In 2016, The Bloor St. Culture Corridor was successful in working with the City of Toronto to have the Bloor St. Culture corridor section of Bloor St. West designated an official City of Toronto cultural corridor.
The Bloor St. Culture Corridor includes:
918 Bathurst Centre for Culture, Arts, Media and Education: 918 Bathurst St. 918bathurst.com
Alliance Française de Toronto: 24 Spadina Road alliance-francaise.ca
Bata Shoe Museum: 327 Bloor Street West batashoemuseum.ca
Blackhurst Cultural Centre: 777-779 Bathurst St. blackhurstcc.org
Gardiner Museum: 111 Queen's Park gardinermuseum.com
Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema: 506 Bloor Street West hotdocscinema.ca
Istituto Italiano di Cultura: 496 Huron Street iictoronto.esteri.it
The Japan Foundation, Toronto: 2 Bloor Street East, Suite 300 jftor.org
Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre: 750 Spadina Ave. mnjcc.org
The Music Gallery: 918 Bathurst St. musicgallery.org
Native Canadian Centre of Toronto: 16 Spadina Road ncct.on.ca
The Randolph Centre for the Arts: 736 Bathurst St. randolphcentreforthearts.com
The Royal Conservatory of Music / Koerner Hall: 273 Bloor Street West rcmusic.com/performance
Royal Ontario Museum (ROM): 100 Queen's Park (Entrance on Bloor St. W.) rom.on.ca
Soundstreams: various venues on the Bloor St. Culture Corridor soundstreams.ca
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra & Chamber Choir: 427 Bloor Street West tafelmusik.org
The Toronto Consort: 427 Bloor Street West torontoconsort.org
Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library: 120 St. George St. fisher.library.utoronto.ca
Toronto Reference Library: 789 Yonge Street torontopubliclibrary.ca
University of Toronto Faculty of Music: 80 Queen's Park music.utoronto.ca
VEMU Estonian Museum Canada: 310 Bloor Street West vemu.ca
Women's Art Association of Canada: 23 Prince Arthur Ave. womensartofcanada.ca
|
Sandra P. 10/1/2023 |
Contact: |
|
|
