Canadian Opera Company

Going to the opera probably isn't the first thing you think of when you're planning a cheap night out, but the Canadian Opera Company's discount ticket options and their impressive range of public programming, which goes well beyond their operatic offerings, makes them worth considering.

Toronto Continuo Collective and Capella Intima

While it's true that booking a premium seat to one of the COC's operas can cost several hundred dollars, there are cheaper options available. Regular seats can be purchased for as little as $50. If you have a youngster showing signs of interest in this art form, tickets for those 15 and under are available at half the price of normal tickets, although this excludes Grand Ring seating and they must be accompanied by an adult. Even better news for adults under 30. They can purchase tickets in designated areas for only $22, or pay $35 in advance and be moved into the best available seats on the day of the performance. For people like me who prefer to act spur of the moment, the COC also has two last-minute programs. If you're able to stand for the duration of the performance, there are 60 standing room tickets available for each performance. They go on sale at 11 am at the box office the day of the performance and cost only $12. Rush tickets, if available, also go on sale at 11 am but according to the website, "discounts are at the discretion of the Canadian Opera Company".

In addition to the operatic productions, the COC hosts an impressive amount of free programming. From September to May they host a free concert series which provides an average of two free performances each week. The offerings are divided into a number of series: Jazz, Vocal, Chamber Music, World Music, Piano Virtuoso, and Dance. One slight hitch for some might be the timing: most performances are held from 12 - 1 pm during the week. Great if you happen to have time off or work downtown and have the ability to take a long lunch but not so convenient otherwise. Occasionally performances are held at 5:30 pm, but there are no more evening concerts scheduled this season.

If you enjoy talks and lectures, the COC also has you covered. Opera Insights is a series of free events billed as "big conversations & interactive events". Tickets must be booked in advance, but they are free. Tickets for the new spring series, which starts April 19, are available starting on April 5.

COC Costume Supervisor Sandra Corazza speaks at an Opera Insights event

Opera Talks are a bit more casual and are held in conjunction with Opera Canada magazine and the North York Central Library. Again, the talks are free to attend but registration is recommended. The talks are held throughout the opera season, and the last one for 2015/2016 will be on April 28.

If you want to learn a bit more about opera but don't want to leave the house, the COC also hosts a number of pod casts on its website. They're no longer in production, but 30 episodes produced between 2012 and 2015 are still available for your listening pleasure. They also provide a list of links to a number of opera-related blogs if you want to browse.

The photos in this article are by Karen E. Reeves and were supplied by the COC.

First Canadian Place Events

First Canadian Place is a 72 storey office tower in the heart of downtown Toronto. Despite its central location and having three floors devoted to stores and restaurants, I most often find myself simply passing through while using PATH to escape the elements. Until recently that is. The building hosts a small gallery whose programming has recently caught my attention. The gallery itself is open Monday to Friday from 11 am to 3 pm and is free to browse. Exhibits change periodically, and they host some pretty interesting free lunchtime talks and panels. 

The most recent event I attended included author David Balzer and a panel of speakers discussing the role of curators in today's art world and beyond. The next talk presents the amazing Dr. Roberta Bondar (Canada's first female astronaut) speaking about her landscape and nature photography. Her images of the African Savannah and its wildlife are on display at the gallery until May 29th, and her talk is coming up on April 15th.

Events at First Canadian Place aren't limited to the gallery however. Lunchtime concerts by the Waterfall Stage happen periodically and the main floor lobby often hosts special programming. Right now the exhibits and talks have a green theme for Earth Month, including talks on growing edible plants and making room for pollinators in your green space, even if that means your balcony. Check out the events calendar for the full list of talks.

Author Talks and Book Signings

Toronto is a wonderful city for anyone who loves books – and obviously a lot of us do if the stats regarding our library system are any indication: over 1.25 million people are registered library cardholders, and our system is the busiest urban public library system in the world. (For more fun facts about the Toronto Public Library, check out their Media Facts page).

What makes Toronto a truly great city for curious readers however is the number of opportunities we have for meeting with authors and listening to them read and comment on their work. Sometimes this happens at festivals held at specific times of the year, like the International Festival of Authors, held at Harbourfront each October, but there are plenty of opportunities throughout the year, offered by a wide variety of different groups. Below I’ve highlighted some of the organizations that bring these writers to us, and list some of the offerings available this April and May to provide some example. See the What’s On page for even more listings.

I’ve already done a post about the great programming offered through the Toronto Public Library, but as many of the programs involve bringing in writers, I have to mention it again here. While many of the “big ticket” events happen at the Toronto Reference Library on Yonge Street, they do make sure to spread the events out to the various branches as well. Often, this involves repeating events, so if you’re unable to catch a talk one night, you might have another chance. For example, award-winning author Hugh Brewster will be speaking about his new book on the sinking of the Titanic, which happened 100 years ago this year, at the Reference Library on April 3, and then on subsequent dates at the following branches: Albert Campbell, Port Union, Danforth/Coxwell and Annette Street. All library lectures are free, although some do require you to reserve tickets in advance.

Also, talks at the Reference Library are recorded and can be watched on the library's YouTube channel. For example, see a video of Anne Rice's recent visit here.


Harbourfront Centre has been inviting authors to Toronto since 1974 through its Authors at Harbourfront series. Upcoming guests include John Boyne, Sadie Jones and Farley Mowat. Tickets are generally $10 but free for members, youth and students, and programs often feature more than 1 author.

It’s long been a tradition for bookstores to host book launches and signings and Toronto’s book sellers are definitely keeping the tradition alive. Indigo hosts author events fairly regularly, usually at either their Manulife Centre or Yorkdale locations. Coming up, Nicholas Sparks and Kelley Armstrong. While these events are usually limited to book signings, there are occasionally more in-depth offerings. For example, on April 11, Heather Reisman will be in conversation with Dr. Sanjay Gupta about his new book Monday Mornings. Our independent bookstores and publishers also host their share of events, so watch for them. Or better yet, check out Open Book: Toronto, a goldmine of literary event information.

In addition to these big players, lots of other groups host authors from time to time. Coming up for example, the Italian Cultural Institute teams up with the University of Toronto Press to launch Elena Lamberti’s book Marshall McLuhan’s Mosaic. So with all these book-related events going on, not to mention all the other great offerings out there, the only hard part is finding the time to fit it all in! Enjoy!

Toronto Public Library Part 1: Programs

Now that the weather has been begun to shift and we're faced with colder, often darker days, the nature of the city's free offerings that most appeals - at least for me - begins to change. Not a lover of the cold, I tend to move inside once November hits, no longer looking for street festivals or walking tours, opting instead for more cerebral interests that can be appreciated in comfort indoors. One organization that comes through with an incredible array of stimulating free programming is the Toronto Public Library (I've called this entry Part 1 because there is so much to love about the Toronto Public Library system that I plan to write several entries about it).

The Library hosts a number of different talk, lecture and salon series. While talks are held throughout the city at the various branches, a good number of them are held at the centrally located Reference Library, situated just north of Bloor on Yonge Street. It has many rooms available for these events, including the well appointed Appel Salon. The marquee events are held in the evenings and are generally preceded by a cash bar reception. All events are free, although depending on the series, they may require you to book a ticket in advance. Many events "sell out" well in advance, although the Library usually does offer some rush seating on the night of the talk, or occasionally makes extra space available in an adjoining room where the talk can be watched via video screen.

The only complaint I have with the Library offerings is that there are so many of them, it can be difficult to sift through them on the website. Every time you click on their home page, different lectures or events come up in the Featured Programs section, which provides a nice intro to upcoming events, but to delve more deeply, I find the Program, Classes & Exhibits link provides too many options to be clear. A straightforward calendar would be useful, but so far I have been unable to find one. Every time I go looking, I seem to find a really interesting lecture happening in an hour or two that I had somehow managed to overlook in my previous searches. So good luck with the site. I'll be listing some of the talks - mostly the evening and weekend ones - in the What's On page, but certainly not all of them, and I won't be updating them with notes as to availability.

To give you an idea of the types of people and topics you can experience, here's a brief run-down of just a few of the series:

The Appel Salon: Billed as "New Books. Big Ideas. Join the Conversation." Top notch thinkers and writers, discussing or debating the topics of their latest books. This year's guests include Jeffrey Sachs, Umberto Echo and Peter C. Newman. These talks are recorded and can be watched after the event on the Library website.

The Eh List Author's series, which as you would expect features Canadian writers. These events take place at branches throughout the city and all events are followed by book signings.

The Thought Exchange. This is the one that covers all those interesting topics that don't fit into a neat bucket, and its tagline is "Programs for the Constantly Curious". These take place at branches throughout the city.

As a final note, I wanted to put the value of these talks into perspective. The talk I attended tonight featured Wade Davis, who spoke about the early British expeditions to Everest. Davis is, among other things, the Explorer-in-Residence at National Geographic. As it happens, the National Geographic Toronto Speaker Series is currently running at Roy Thomson Hall, featuring other contributors to the magazine. I'm sure the talks are deeply engaging, but single tickets start at $39.50. The event tonight was free, and at the end, members of the audience could meet Davis, ask questions and get their books signed. Artifacts from those early expeditions were even in attendance, and made available to the audience afterward for up-close viewing. I'd say that's pretty hard to beat.