Branford Marsalis Quartet And More Announced At The Royal Conservatory In February

February concerts have been announced at The Royal Conservatory, including Piaf! The Show, which returns after a sold out run in 2015, TD Jazz Concerts featuring a sold-out evening with the Branford Marsalis Quartet, piano cornucopia with Louis Lortie, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and Yuja Wang with Víkingur Ólafsson, Takács Quartet with Sir Stephen Hough.

In addition, Michael Feinstein presents his tribute to Tony Bennett featuring the Carnegie Hall Ensemble, Mardi Gras Mambo featuring The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Nathan & the Zydeco Cha-Chas make their Koerner Hall debuts, global music series continues with the Cesária Évora Orchestra and Harold López-Nussa with Grégoire Maret and Hilario Durán with His Latin Jazz Big Band, and Royal Conservatory Orchestra conducted by Naomi Woo with pianist Jerry Hu.

With a million tickets sold in more than 30 countries and acclaimed reviews worldwide, Piaf! The Show – a musical celebration of the life and music of the legendary French chanteuse Édith Piaf – returns to Koerner Hall on February 1. Starring Nathalie Lermitte, hailed as Piaf's true musical heir, the production is unanimously considered by Piaf's friends, such as Charles Dumont and Charles Aznavour, as: “the most beautiful tribute ever produced on Edith Piaf's career.” Piaf's relevancy has only grown since the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, capped off by Céline Dion's version of Piaf's signature “Hymne d'amour.” Lermitte's version is achingly powerful. 

The NEA Jazz Master, Grammy Award winner, and Tony Award nominee Branford Marsalis returns to Koerner Hall for another sold-out evening with his formidable quartet on February 8. From his initial recognition as a young jazz lion, Marsalis has expanded his vision as an instrumentalist, composer, bandleader, and educator, crossing stylistic boundaries while maintaining an unwavering creative integrity. He formed his own quartet in 1986 and it remains his primary performance vehicle. Known for its unrivaled spirit in both live and recorded performances, the Branford Marsalis Quartet (Joey Calderazzo, piano, Eric Revis, bass, Justin Faulkner, drums) has long been recognized as the standard to which other ensembles of its kind must be measured.  

Experience the magic of music and friendship in Because of You: My Tribute to Tony Bennett featuring Michael Feinstein alongside members of the illustrious Carnegie Hall Ensemble. Celebrating the enduring legacy of the legendary Tony Bennett, Feinstein, a renowned vocalist and interpreter of the Great American Songbook, brings a heartfelt performance of a classy, swinging bygone era. On February 13, sing along with hits such as “Because of You,” “Rags to Riches,” “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” “The Best is Yet to Come,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “Stranger in Paradise,” and many more.

On February 14, get ready for a non-stop Mardi Gras celebration featuring two Louisiana legends – The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas! Grammy Award-winning pioneers of the modern New Orleans brass band movement, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band are recognized worldwide as an unstoppable musical machine. For over 45 years the group's unique sound, described by the band as a “musical gumbo,” has allowed them to tour across five continents and more than 30 countries, record 12 studio albums, and collaborate with a range of artists from Modest Mouse to Widespread Panic to Norah Jones. Led by Nathan Williams as songwriter, founder, vocalist, and accordionist, the Cha Chas provide a direct connection to zydeco's storied pioneers such as Clifton Chenier and Boozoo Chavis. Their uplifting, roots-inspired music is served up with a distinctive Caribbean lilt that reaches back to the very beginnings of Louisiana Creole culture. 

A mid-winter Latin excursion on February 20 highlights Cuban artists with the Harold López-Nussa Quartet featuring harmonica player Grégoire Maret, and celebrated Juno and Latin Grammy Award-winning pianist and composer Hilario Durán with his 19-piece Latin jazz big band. Cuban pianist and composer López-Nussa performs music from his new album, Timba a la Americana, produced by Snarky Puppy bandleader Michael League. Celebrated Cuban-Canadian composer, piano master, and 2024 Latin Grammy Award winner Durán, and his Latin Jazz Big Band, feature music from their 2024 Juno Award-winning album, Cry Me a River.

The Cesária Évora Orchestra brings together the cream of Cape-Verdean musicianship and vocalists to honour the late and legendary Cesária Évora on February 22. This tribute to the “Barefoot Diva” features some of Cape Verde's greatest voices, including Lucibela, Elida Almeida, Ceuzany, and Theófilo Chantre, each bringing their own unique warmth and artistry to Cesária's beloved songs. Together, they celebrate Cesária's legacy by performing classics like “Sodade,” “Bésame Mucho,” and “Petit Pays,” alongside other treasures of Cape Verdean music. Their voices, filled with emotion, breathe new life into the morna and coladeira traditions, touching hearts everywhere.

On February 9, acclaimed French-Canadian pianist Louis Lortie pays tribute to Maurice Ravel in celebration of his 150th birthday with Gaspard de la nuit, Jeux d'eau, La valse, and more. For over three decades, Lortie has continued to build a reputation as one of the world's most versatile musicians. He extends his interpretative voice across a broad spectrum of repertoire, and his performances and award-winning recordings attest to his remarkable musical range. In recital and chamber music, Lortie appears in the world's most prestigious concert halls and festivals, including London's Wigmore Hall, the Philharmonie de Paris, Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony Hall, the Beethovenfest Bonn, and Liszt Festival Raiding.

Two of classical music's brightest stars, pianists Yuja Wang and Víkingur Ólafsson, unite to perform Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances (for two pianos), Schubert's Fantasia in F Minor (for piano four hands), and other works. After their concert on February 18 sold out, the Conservatory was able to secure February 17 as a second date, which is now close to being sold out as well. Wang, who won a 2024 Grammy Award in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category, is widely recognised for her supreme musicianship and her ability to captivate audiences of all ages. Ólafsson, who performed Bach's Goldberg Variations in two sold-out recitals at Koerner Hall in February 2024, has been called “Iceland's Glenn Gould” by The New York Times, and was recently named Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America.

Considered a “brilliant musician and an extraordinary visionary” by The Wall Street Journal and praised by The Guardian as “one of the best Messiaen interpreters around,” French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard enjoys an internationally acclaimed career. As a master performer of Beethoven, he has recorded Beethoven's entire catalogue of piano concertos. His recital on February 28 consist of works by Beethoven, Debussy, Schoenberg, Webern, and Pierre Boulez in recognition of his 100th birthday.

One of Koerner Hall's most frequent visitors, Takács Quartet brings its innovative musical thinking to works by Beethoven and Brahms, along with a new string quartet by the acclaimed pianist Sir Stephen Hough on February 21. In 2015, the Takács Quartet performed a program inspired by Philip Roth's novel Everyman with Meryl Streep at The Royal Conservatory. Named by The Economist as one of Twenty Living Polymaths, Hough was the first classical performer to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (2001).

Canadian conductor and pianist Naomi Woo is a widely sought-after symphonic and operatic conductor, an educator, and the 2022 winner of the Canada Council's prestigious Virginia Parker Prize, who was chosen by her mentor Yannick Nézet-Séguin as a member of the Orchestre Métropolitain's inaugural orchestral conducting academy. She leads the Royal Conservatory Orchestra in Zosha Di Castri's Lineage and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition on February 7. They are joined by Jerry Hu, BMus '27 (GGS), currently enrolled in The Ihnatowycz Piano Program and a winner of The Robert W. and G. Ann Corcoran Concerto Competition, for Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1.

GGS Brass & Friends on February 2 features Principals and Associate Principals of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's brass section in a celebration of brass ensemble works. Gordon Wolfe, trombone, is joined by Steven Woomert, trumpet, Christopher Gongos, horn, and invited students from The Glenn Gould School.

Toronto Symphony Orchestra Principal Percussion Charles Settle leads a percussion-centric chamber program of intriguing works for both pitched and unpitched instruments, joined by students from his studio in a GGS Percussion & Friends concert on February 23.

The Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists presents the third Taylor Academy Showcase Concert on February 1, featuring leading young classical musicians in Canada aged 8-18.

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