It’s the season for sharing the joy of arts and culture on the Bloor St. Culture Corridor – Toronto’s most diverse arts and culture district!
It’s also the season for gift-giving, and the Bloor St. Culture Corridor is the arts district to go to for unique gifts from the shops at the Gardiner Museum, Royal Ontario Museum, Bata Shoe Museum and the Native Canadian Centre; for concert tickets to Koerner Hall, Tafelmusik, Toronto Consort, U of T Faculty of Music, or Talisker Players; or a membership to the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. There is a special gift for everyone who loves arts, culture, beautiful things and wonderful experiences!
The Native Canadian Centre‘s Cedar Basket gift shop presents the Christmas Craft Show on Saturday, December 5, 10am-4pm, where there will be more than 30 artisans and makers selling their handmade works, including beaded crafts and jewellery, leatherwork, paintings and much more. There will be door prizes, raffles, and delicious Indian tacos on the menu. Admission is free and everyone is welcome. More information can be found at www.ncct.on.ca
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir kicks off the holiday season with Bach Christmas Oratorio (December 3-6) at Trinity St. Paul’s Centre, Jeanne Lamon Hall. The concert will sell out, so everyone is encouraged to get tickets soon! Bach’s celebration of Christmas is a beloved performance featuring a stellar international cast of soloists and the renowned Tafelmusik Chamber Choir. Handel’sMessiah (December 16-19) at Koerner Hall is a must-see annual holiday tradition that sells out every year. It is a moving and joyful experience. Concert series and holiday packages are available and anyone 35 and under can take advantage of discount prices and exclusive perks when they become a member of Tafelscene. More information can be found at www.tafelmusik.org
The Joy of Creativity continues at the Gardiner Museum‘s 12 Trees of Christmas, with the chance to experience 12 unique and artistic takes on the traditional Christmas tree, until January 3, 2016. Also not-to-be-missed is the Gardiner Museum’s Holiday Market on December 6, special Holiday Clay Workshops on December 5 and 12, and a holiday season-themed Family Day on December 6! Check www.gardinermuseum.com for details.
The Toronto Consort presents Christmas at the Monastery of Santa Cruz with guest director lutenist Zak Ozmo December 11 & 12 at 8pm, and December 13 at 3:30pm. The Monastery of Santa Cruz at Coimbra was a major centre of Portuguese music during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This will be a Christmas program full of ravishingly beautiful villancicos and wild Brazilian-influenced dances found in the Monastery’s unique archives. Visit www.torontoconsort.org for more details.
December at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre begins with Cause for Celebration: Holidays from Around the World exhibition in the Jacobs Lounge gallery, December 1 – January 3. The exhibition explores the happiness, hopes, fears and wishes that move mankind across all cultures. Cultural events include Wheel Dance: Latin Dance, a mixed abilities dance class for all on December 6, the Toronto Jewish Film Society screenings of Metallic Blues with guest speaker critic Mark Clamen on December 13, and a Big Band Swing Dance & Concert featuring Lenny Graf and his Platinum Swing Orchestra on December 17. The Miles Nadal JCC’s drop-in daytime lecture series includes Behind the Curtain with Richard Ouzounian on December 3, The Jews of Canada: Settlement, Adaptation and Diversity with Dr. Franklin Bialystok on December 14, and From Venetian Villas to Toronto Condos – The Architectural Legacy of Palladianism with Professor Kenneth Bartlett on December 21. More information can be found at www.mnjcc.org
December is an exciting month at Alliance Francaise de Toronto. Pierre Fillion, professor of urban planning at the University of Waterloo presents a lecture, “The evolution of Toronto and its Francophone community” December 1 at 7pm. Leila Schneps, a doctor in mathematics at CNRS and a specialist of Grothendieck work for a lecture titled, “ALEXANDRE GROTHENDIECK: THE PASSION OF THE ABSOLUTE“on December 9 at 7pm. Admission is free and the lecture will be in French. Every Thursday, Alliance Francaise screens a film at 7:30pm. In December, audiences will enjoy On my Way (Elle s’en va) directed by Emmanuelle Bercot and Haute Cuisine (Les saveurs du palais) directed by Christian Vincent. Admission is free and the films are in French with English subtitles. Francophone comedians, Eddy King & Neev, will perform a special stand up show in French on December 8. Tickets are $15 for non-Members and $10 for Members, Seniors & Students. More information is at www.alliance-francaise.ca
The University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music presents faculty member and acclaimed Canadian percussionist Beverley Johnston on December 7 at 7:30pm in Walter Hall. Ms. Johnston will perform works by fellow faculty member and award-winning composer Christos Hatzis as well as pieces by Dean Burry, Julie Spencer, Dinuk Wijeratne and George Kontogiorgos. More information is at www.music.utoronto.ca
At the Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Form Matters is the first exhibition of the new series ‘Italy under Construction’ and presents the work of architect Stefano Pujatti (Elasticospa + 3, Turin) and Beniamino Servino (Caserta). Their work shares an understanding of architecture as an artistic practice linking design and local culture, focusing the task of architecture on both space making and a means of communication. Whereas the articulation of architectural form in Stefano Pujatti’s buildings suggests a work in progress, reflecting the tension between the designer’s ambitions, a client’s dream, and local conditions, Beniamino Servino’s architecture focuses on exploring the potential monumentalism hidden in the ordinariness of the abandoned urban landscape of Caserta, his hometown. On view until January 22, 2016. More information can be found at www.iictoronto.esteri.it
The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema invites everyone to celebrate the last, best and most Canadian poet in AL PURDY WAS HERE (December 4-9). Dig out your vinyl for ALL THINGS MUST PAST: THE RISE AND FALL OF TOWER RECORDS (December 4-10). The Opera on Screen series continues with MARRIAGE OF FIGARO(December 6). Ballet fans won’t want to miss ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND (December 8), back by popular demand for the holidays. Culinary desires will be indulged in Copenhagen with NOMA: MY PERFECT STORM (December 18-30). Watch a master choreographer at work in PAUL TAYLOR CREATIVE DOMAIN (December 11-18) and travel to the spirited and romantic heart of Argentina on Christmas Day with OUR LAST TANGO (December 25-January 4). The whole family will want to come out and enjoy holiday classic films on the big screen, including: MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL (December 20), LOVE ACTUALLY (December 20), WHITE CHRISTMAS (December 23) and more. Details are at www.bloorcinema.com
This December the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) celebrates the season with ROM for the Holidays: Planet ROM December 26 – January 3. Soar through the cosmos, learn about the planets, stars, heroes and villains, aliens and astronauts, and ancient astronomers in a whole new way! The ROM will have a prototype MARS rover, courtesy of the Canadian Space Agency, and plenty of fun activities for the whole family. This year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition will be on view through all of December until March 20, featuring three Canadian winners and over 40 stunning images. December is also the time to see Pompeii: In the Shadow of the Volcano, open until January 3. The ROM Speaks lecture series continues in the spirit of Pompeii on December 8, for What Happens in Pompeii, Stays in Pompeii: Sexuality in the Roman World. Visit www.rom.on.ca for details.
The Royal Conservatory of Music celebrates the 90th birthday of legendary Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson on December 11 and the 100th birthday of Frank Sinatra on December 12. Both shows are sold out, but BMO Rush Tickets will be available on the day of the concerts. The first performance of the Family Concerts series, Routes of Andalucia, on December 5, follows Juno Award-winning trumpeter David Buchbinder, Roula Said, Tamar Ilana, and their crew of cross-cultural musicians to ancient Andalucia, where Arabic, Jewish, and Gypsy cultures connect. Finally, The Tallis Scholars, “the rock stars of Renaissance vocal music” (The New York Times), return to Koerner Hall after their sold-out concerts in 2009 and 2011, to perform a holiday season concert on December 13. Known around the world as the leading exponents of Renaissance sacred music, the group is led by founder and director Peter Phillips. Tickets and info are available at www.performance.rcmusic.ca
Celebrate the Holidays at the Bata Shoe Museum December 12 and 13! Santa has dropped off some early presents to the BSM so kids can have shoe-themed holiday family fun at Toronto’s favourite shoebox. Visitors can create a surprise holiday craft, decorate a mini-stocking for the tree and make an elf shoe fridge magnet. Included in Museum admission. Visit www.batashoemuseum.ca for details. TheBata Shoe Museum Shop celebrates the 12 days of Christmas #bsm12days with a featured item each day, December 9 – 20. Check their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages (@batashoemuseum) to see the special holiday-themed item in the spotlight that day.
The Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts presents The Addams Family in the Annex Theatre, 730 Bathurst Street, December 1-5, 2015. Charles Addams’ iconic cartoon family comes to weird and wonderful life in a magnificently macabre new musical comedy that examines ideas of love, family, and what it means to be normal.Tickets are $22, available at www.ticketmaster.ca
918 Bathurst is pleased to present The Wooden Sky’s 6th Annual Holiday Show! This year will feature a holiday market with amazing local artists and will be a fully licensed event. The Toronto Folk Fuzz band raised over $10,000 for the Daily Bread Food Bank over the last 5 years, and this year they will be donating all the proceeds from the door and bar to Romero House, an organization dedicated to helping refugee families find their feet here in Canada. For more information visit www.romerohouse.org
A Touch of Arsenic: Sketching the Past at Museum of Estonians Abroad/VEMU is on view throughout December and until February 8, 2016. For more information visit www.vemu.ca
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