Stage Door News
Stage Door News
This month on the Bloor St. Culture Corridor...
April 2017 marks the 3rd anniversary of the Bloor St. Culture Corridor, the partnership of 19 organizations working in collaboration to make up Toronto's most diverse arts and culture district! Look forward to the year ahead with even more concerts, films, art and museum exhibitions, and arts talks, taking place on the Corridor every single month. Also opportunities to experience some of Toronto's most accessible cultural diversity, including French, Jewish, Italian, Estonian, Japanese, and Aboriginal arts and culture. With Spring around the corner, now is the perfect time to explore the corridor!
Museum of Estonians Abroad/VEMU
Opening on Saturday, Apr. 1 at the Museum of Estonians Abroad/VEMU, the Metsaülikool/Forest University 50! anniversary exhibition will be on display at Tartu College throughout the summer. People of Estonian heritage have been reconnecting with their roots at this total immersion cultural camp in the deep woods of Muskoka every summer since 1967. On Sunday, Apr. 2 at 4pm, TCFS will be screening the new Estonian film The Spy and the Poet (2016, 95 min, in Estonian with English subtitles). On Wednesday, Apr. 5 at 7pm, Kalev Ruberg will be giving a lecture on artificial intelligence. On Tuesday, Apr. 11 at 7pm, VEMU's Kundalini yoga instructor, Aili Kuutan, will be leading a full moon meditation. No admission fee. To celebrate World Book Day (Apr. 23), artist Laani Heinar will be leading a workshop Giving Books a New Life on Apr. 19 at 6pm. Tickets: $10 (students), $20 (adults). In English. On Apr. 30, VEMU will be holding its 6th Fundraising Dinner. Poet, children's author, and librettist Leelo Tungal from Estonia will be the guest speaker. All events take place at Tartu College. For more information visit vemu.ca.
Toronto Reference Library
Vice and Virtue, a free exhibit at Toronto Reference Library's TD Gallery, offers a look back at moral reform in "Toronto the Good" as it faced rapid growth and industrialization at the turn-of-the-century. The nickname "Toronto the Good" dates back to moral crusader William Holmes Howland, who was elected mayor in 1886. Howland vowed to rid the city of drinking and vice, and his campaign was perfectly timed. Journalists of the day capitalized on rising middle-class fears about the unsavory aspects of urban life, publishing salacious stories of bawdy houses, opium dens and drunken debauchery. Meanwhile, temperance, social purity and Sunday observance organizations lobbied for legal and social reforms to curb the "evils" of city life. Featuring tabloids, photographs, manuscripts, posters and pamphlets from Toronto Public Library's Baldwin Collection of Canadiana, the exhibit reveals a seedier side of our strait-laced city. It runs until Apr. 30. For more information visit torontopubliclibrary.ca.
Randolph Centre for the Arts
The Weavers (Die Weber), Gerhart Hauptmann's socialist theatre masterpiece, takes to the Randolph Centre for the Arts' Annex Theatre stage. This play about the human cost of the Industrial Revolution was inspired by an actual 1844 revolt of a group of Silesian weavers. It runs in the Annex Theatre, Apr. 4-8. For more information and tickets visit randolphcentreforthearts.com.
Bata Shoe Museum
The Bata Shoe Museum is kicking off the month with the Toronto Storytelling Festival on Apr. 1. Stories, Rhymes and Songs...Oh My! will entertain the little ones with engaging stories, amusing rhymes, and charming songs. Interested in seeing a unique musical ensemble in an equally unique venue? On Apr. 12, the dazzling ensemble Quartetto Gelato, described as 'classical in training and eclectic by design', will be performing. On Apr. 30, BSM Senior Curator Elizabeth Semmelhack will be discussing the shift in shoemaking following the industrial revolution during her lecture Bespoke to Branded, part of the Spotlight on Shoemaking Series. For film lovers, the regular Arctic Film Series on the second Thursday of the month and a special screening of Angry Inuk on Apr. 19. For more information visit batashoemuseum.ca.
Tafelmusik
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra welcomes the father/ daughter team of oboist Alfredo Bernardini and violinist Cecilia Bernardini to co-lead Bach: Keeping it in the Family, a concert exploring the family genius of J.S. Bach and his eldest sons at Trinity-St. Paul's Centre, Apr. 5-9. Join us one hour before each performance for our FREE Pre-concert Chats. Listen to a panel discussion with Tafelmusik oboist John Abberger and violinist Julia Wedman, moderated by Hannah French. Ms. French is a freelance musicologist, broadcaster with BBC Radio, and baroque flautist. We also welcome you to sit in our Public Guest Artist Masterclass with oboist Alfredo Bernardini on Saturday, Apr. 8, 1:30pm-3:30pm at Trinity-St. Paul's Centre. Learn something new from Mr. Bernardini as he teaches emerging artists on baroque oboe, flute, and bassoon. For more information and tickets call 416.964.6337 or visit tafelmusik.org.
Japan Foundation, Toronto
This month at Japan Foundation, Toronto, the exhibition Road of Light and Hope: National Treasures at Todai-ji Temple, Nara Photographs by Miro Ito continues (closing June 28). Todai-ji is considered to be the eastern end of the silk road. Trade and cultural exchange that dates back to the 8th century led to statues, structures, musical instruments, and skilled craftwork to be accumulated at this temple. The influence from Eurasia can be detected in many of these cultural treasures that are featured in the photographs. JFT will have Saturday openings of the library and gallery 11am-4pm on Apr. 8 & 22. All events are free. For more information visit jftor.org.
The Gardiner Museum
In April, the Gardiner Museum will celebrate the opening of the new Community Clay Studio, as well as the transformed lobby and Gardiner Shop. On Saturday, Apr. 8 and Sunday, Apr. 9, 11am-3pm, families are invited to engage with clay through hands-on art activities, tours of the new space, and wheel throwing demonstrations at 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, and 2:30pm. Admission is free for visitors 18 and under every day! While your'e here, see the acclaimed multimedia exhibition Janet Macpherson: A Canadian Bestiary before it closes on May 21. It features four immersive installations made up of Macpherson's strange and intriguing hybrid animal creatures. In conjunction with the exhibition, sign up for a special urban birding excursion and paracord-string crafting demonstration with Friends of Ogden Park and FLAP Canada on Saturday, Apr. 29, 9am-12pm. For more information visit gardinermuseum.com.
The Royal Conservatory of Music
April concert highlights at Koerner Hall include a jazz concert with Jason Moran and The Bandwagon & Alexander Brown Trio on Apr. 1, Québec City's popular Les Violons du Roy with extraordinary French countertenor Philippe
Jaroussky on Apr. 13, and on Apr. 19 attendees will be taken on a journey through the music of South America by Colombian superstars Monsieur Periné and Peruvian-Canadian singer Patricia Cano. On Apr. 28, a Canadian all-star evening of chamber music care of the Montrose Trio & Friends (pianist Jon Kimura Parker, violinist Martin Beaver, and cellist Clive Greensmith) and on Apr. 29, Raoul and The Big Time "Down in the Delta" with special guests Super Chikan, Big Dave McLean, Anthony "Big A" Sherrod, and Divine Brown. For information visit performance.rcmusic.ca.
University of Toronto Faculty of Music
On Apr. 21, the University of Toronto Faculty of Music co-hosts the day-long interdisciplinary symposium Hearing Riel, with the Munk School of Global Affairs and the Canadian Opera Company (COC). Presented in connection with the COC's new sesquicentennial production of Harry Somers' landmark Canadian opera Louis Riel, which premiered in 1967 for Canada's Centennial. Sung in Cree, English and French, the opera focuses on the controversial and compelling figure of Riel, and invokes timely questions including the rights and responsibilities of the individual vs. those of the nation, and what constitutes good and accountable government-issues that still resonate with Canadians 150 years after our nation's founding. Hearing Riel gathers distinguished guests to investigate the work, its fraught historical subject matter, and its political implications for today. Reserve FREE tickets beginning Apr. 4 by visiting coc.ca/HearingRiel or by calling the COC Box Office at 416.363.8231. For more information visit music.utoronto.ca.
Alliance Française Toronto
Alliance Française Toronto presents the music of South Africanan group Nhapitapi Mbira on Apr. 22, the Alan Lomax tribute concert by Jayme Stone on Apr. 28, and the Etienne Brûlé Rock Opera by the students of Paul Vaillant-Couturier College in France on Apr. 29. An exceptional exhibition, Torontonians and their memory of the First World War, is on view on Apr. 5 only. Apr. 12-May 6, four talented artists from Toronto will share their passion for art through an exhibit where creating means beauty, happiness and sharing. Two lectures are at Alliance Française this month: Poetry explosion on Apr. 20 organized by the Association des auteures et auteurs de l'Ontario français and Etienne Brûlé seen from France: an adventurer on a quest for notability by historian Éric Brossard on Apr. 26. Movies this month include: Toronto's Great War Attics, The man on the shore, The illusionist, Les dames du Bois de Boulogne and Day for night. For more information visit alliance-francaise.ca.
Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre
The Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre is excited to present gallery exhibit Land and Cityscapes by painter Paul Peregal, Apr. 1-26. Iain Scott, one of Canada's foremost opera educators, returns for his last lecture in his Bel Canto series with Verdi's Galley Years on Apr. 3. Take in some exciting shows in the Al Green Theatre: Cracked: New Light on Dementia is an innovative research-based play that follows persons with dementia and their families. It runs Apr. 18-20. Momentum Dance Toronto presents ONEFIFTY - a celebration through dance of Canada's 150th anniversary, Apr. 26-29. For more information visit mnjcc.org.
918 Bathurst
Join New Blue for the official launch of 918 Bathurst's initiative to become a new leading venue in the creation, performance and education of dance in Toronto. There will be drinks, prizes, food, live entertainment, speeches and more! The event is on Thursday, Apr. 27 at 8pm and is co-produced by New Blue Emerging Dance and Breakaway Entertainment. For more information visit 918bathurst.com.
Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema
Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema invites you to witness the explosive power of Ohad Naharin's visionary choreography in Mr. Gaga (Opens Mar. 31), an enthralling portrait of the master of modern dance. Immerse yourself in the jazz scene of the 1960s and the fatal relationship between a magnificently talented musician and his wife in the true crime thriller I Called Him Morgan (Opens Apr. 7). An eye-opening investigation into the increasingly invasive world of technology reveals the internet's complex global impact on free speech, privacy and activism with Black Code (Opens Apr. 14). Strangers on the Earth (Opens Apr. 22) follows American cellist Dane Johansen as he sets off on the famous Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, performing along the way. Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival (Apr. 27-May 7), offers an outstanding selection of over 200 films from Canada and around the world to Toronto audiences. For more information visit hotdocscinema.ca.
Royal Ontario Museum (The ROM)
Continuing at the ROM in April is the extraordinary exhibition Out of the Depths: The Blue Whale Story. Anchoring the Museum's Canada 150 celebrations, this exhibition showcases one of the largest, most complete blue whale skeletons ever displayed. On Apr. 4, the Allan Baker Biodiversity Lecture - From Land to Water: The Walking Whales presents J.G.M. 'Hans' Thewissen (Northeast Ohio Medical University). Combining mammalian anatomy, development and evolution, Thewissen takes guests on an epic journey to uncover the origin of modern whales. Other featured ROM exhibitions include the colourful Art, Honour, and Ridicule: Asafo Flags from Southern Ghana, and the multimedia installation Isaac Julien: Other Destinies. During ROM Spring Fridays, visitors can roam the galleries and enjoy live music performances each Friday, 5:30pm-10pm, until Apr. 28. Offering discounted Museum admission for all ages, ROM Spring Fridays is a Program Partnership with Women in Music Canada. Out of the Depths: The Blue Whale Story is supported by Ontario150. For more information visit rom.on.ca.
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2017-04-01
Toronto: Events on the Bloor Street Culture Corridor in April 2017