Here’s a look at the start of 2024 in Toronto.

On the 7th and the 9th OPUS chamber music, who feature some of Canada’s best young chamber musicians, have a pair of concerts.  The first is at Trinity St. Paul’s and features music by Rebecca Clarke, Leo Weiner, Anton Webern and Robert Schumann.  The second is at the Arts and Letters Club and includes music by Tcherepini, Klein, Wegener and Beethoven.

Also on the 9th Sara Schabas and Isabelle David are giving a two part show in the lunchtime series in the RBA.  The first half features fin-de-siècle Viennese composers who fled Austria following the rise of the Nazi regime.  The second half presents the Canadian premiere of Alex Weiser’s in a dark blue night, featuring Yiddish poetry written by immigrants to New York City.

On the afternoon of the 21st it’s the annual UoT student composers’ collective opera in the MacMillan Theatre.  This year the libretto is based on Lysistrata.

The 26th is the opening night of Leoš Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen at the COC.  It’s been a long time since the COC did any Janáček and given current programming patterns it will be a long time until it happens again.  Five or six Carmen‘s probably.  Runs until 16th February.

That night also features a concert by Ute Lemper at Massey Hall.  I’ve no idea when, if ever, she last played Toronto.

Then on Sunday 27th in the Greenwin Theatre, at the Meridian Arts Centre, Likht Ensemble are doing the latest iteration of The Shoah Songbook with special guests Barry Shiffman and Ben Heppner.  This one will feature some material from previous Shoah Songbook concerts plus new material.

There are several interesting theatre shows on my radar in January too:

• Migraaaants by Matei Visniec is a black comedy about the migrant/refugee crisis.  It will play at Theatre Passe Muraille from January 13th to 28th.
• Rockabye, by Joanna Murray-Smith deals with an aging rock star reinventing herself.  That’s on at Factory Theatre from January 26th to February 11th.
• The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes is a show by a group of neurodivergent actors from Ballarat (of all places).  It aims to challenge preconceptions about neurodivergence, AI and the human mind.  That’s at Berkeley Street Theatre from January 18th to 28th.
• Pierre, Natasha and the Great Comet of 1812, currently playing (COVID permitting) at Crow’s Theatre has been extended to January 28th.