12 festive holiday concerts in Toronto to enjoy this year

Live music sounds especially wonderful this time of year, with caroling, Christmas concerts, sing-alongs and classical performances filling the air. This year, you can experience saxophonist Kenny G, Canadian music legend Murray McLaughlan, jazz singer Micah Barnes and a host of other artists performing traditional and contemporary holiday music and Christmas songs. Plus, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra performs along to a screening of the 1990 movie Home Alone. It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas! [Photo courtesy of Massey Hall]

A Bluesy Christmas
Toronto artist Danny Marks hosts an evening of holiday blues featuring performances by Jesse O’Brien, Cheryl Lescom, Crystal Shawanda and Quisha Wint.

• When: December 19, 8:30 pm
• Where:  Hugh’s Room
• Price: $35 to $38
• Buy tickets
• More information

TSO - Home Alone in Concert
Enjoy a screening of the 1990 madcap holiday classic Home Alone, starring Macaulay Culkin, as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra performs the music to the film with vocal accompaniment from the Etobicoke School of the Arts Concert Choir.

• When: November 30: 7:30 pm, December 1: 7:30 pm, December 2: 2 pm and 7:30 pm
• Where: Roy Thomson Hall
  
• Price: $40 to $126
• For tickets
• More information

Tafelmusik Presents Handel’s Messiah
The award-winning Toronto-based Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir presents Handel's time-honoured classic Messiah, composed in 1741, at Koerner Hall, inside the Telus Centre for Performance and Learning.

• When: Dec 13 to 16 at 7:30 pm
• Where: Koerner Hall
• Price: $30 to $124
• Buy tickets
• More information

TSO presents Canadian Brass Christmas and Etobicoke School of the Arts
The Canadian Brass Orchestra and the Etobicoke School of the Arts Holiday Chorus perform John McPherson’s “In Excelcis Gloria (After the Huron Carol)” and other holiday classics, and invite the audience to join in a traditional sing-along.

• When: December 12: 8 pm, December 13: 2 pm and 8 pm
• Where: Roy Thomson Hall
• Price:  $63.95 to $123.35
• Buy tickets
• More information

Riverdale Share 25th Anniversary Concert
Toronto musicians Danny Marks, Tabby Johnson, Murray McLauchlan Micah Barnes, Kim Stockwood and others lend their voices to the annual Riverdale Share fund-raising concert, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this December. This year’s goal: to raise $50,000 that will provide truckloads of food for families in crisis throughout Toronto.

• When: December 3, 3 pm
• Where: The Music Hall
• Price:  $25, plus one perishable food item
• Buy tickets
• More information

St. Michael’s Choir School’s Annual Christmas Concert at Massey Hall
The choristers of St. Michael’s Choir School will perform “Messiah Part I” along with a mix of secular and sacred carols at the iconic Massey Hall. The highly-respected choir school has been performing this annual Massey Hall concert for 52 years.

• When: December 2 and 3, 3 p.m.
• Where:  Massey Hall
• Price: $20 to $60
• Buy tickets
• More information

Kenny G Holiday Show
Popular saxophonist Kenny G, much-loved by fans for his renditions of “I'll Be Home for Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland” and “The Christmas Song,” performs in concert for one-night only.

• When: December 14, 8 p.m.
• Where: Massey Hall
• Price: $52 to $322
• Buy tickets
• More information

Deck the Halls: Downtown Carol Sing
This free, afternoon carol-singing features The Metropolitan Silver Band, organist Dr. Patricia Wright and ministers The Rev. Dr. G. Malcolm Sinclair and The Rev. Dr. John Joseph Mastandrea. Expect a variety of traditional and popular holiday carols.

• When: December 10, 1:30 pm
• Where: Metropolitan United Church
• Price: Free admission, donations welcome
• More information

Quartetto Gelato in Concert! The Magic of Christmas in Toronto
Quartetto Gelato is a one-of-a kind cross-over band whose four multi-talented members are known for playing operatic arias with tangos, gypsy music, international folk songs, romantic tenor arias and pyrotechnical solos. Expect lively versions of “I’ll be Home for Christmas,” “Sleigh Ride” and “Silent Night.”

• When: December 21, 8 p.m.
• Where: Trinity St. Paul's United Church
• Price: $25 to $60
• Buy tickets
• More information

O Nata Lux - Toronto Youth Choir Holiday Concert
The talented Toronto Youth Choir performs this soulful a cappella piece, which is excerpted from composer Morten Lauridsen’s acclaimed Lux Aeterna.

• When: December 12, 7:30 p.m.
• Where: Christ Church Deer Park
• Price:  $10 to $25
• Buy tickets
• More information

Upper Canada Choristers present Christmas Joy!
The Upper Canada Chorister, a community choir which was formed at Upper Canada College in 1994, performs “Messe de Minuit pour Noel” by Marc-Antoine Charpentier with flutist Laurel Trainor.

• When: December 1, 8 pm
• Where: Grace Church-on-the-Hill
• Price: $25; free admission for children and teens accompanied by an adult. (Consider bringing a perishable food donation for the Daily Food Bank)
• Buy tickets: Call 416-256-0510
• More information

Amadeus Choir and the Elmer Iseler Singers: J.S. Bach's “Christmas Oratorio”
Conductor Lydia Adams leads the renowned Amadeus Choir and internationally-acclaimed Elmer Iseler Singers in J.S. Bach's “Christmas Oratorio, Cantatas I, II and III.”  The piece will be sung in the original German.

• When: December 1, 8 pm
• Where: Metropolitan United Church
• Price: $20 to $55
• Purchase tickets:  Call 416-446-0188 or 416-217-0537
• More information