The days are getting shorter and darkness falls earlier as October settles in. Fortunately, the invention of electricity means we don’t have to go to bed when the sun sets! And since we’re not going to bed as early as the sun, we might as well go out and enjoy the last few mild evenings — because the bitter cold of winter will be here before we know it! Put on your favourite fall sweater (and maybe your raincoat), and take a leisurely stroll to your favorite theater while breathing in the crisp fall air — while you still can!
OCTOBER 5–10, 1:00 PM; OCTOBER 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 7:30 PM; AND OCTOBER 10, 2:00 PM, SEGAL CENTRE DETAILS AND TICKETS
Following its massive success in late 2024 and early 2025 in Montreal and throughout the summer in Toronto, *The Secret Chord: A Leonard Cohen Experience* returns for a series of performances at the Segal Centre. Through the songs and reflections of the famous Montreal singer, this show explores love, grief, spirituality, and the search for meaning, while painting a portrait of the artist’s life and the legacy he left behind.
VoixMonde: AfroClassique
OCTOBER 6, 5:00 P.M., LE 9E DETAILS AND TICKETS
A fusion of two musical styles you probably didn’t expect awaits you tomorrow: Baroque music meets African music. Thanks to Deo Munyakazi (vocals, composition, and inanga—a traditional Rwandan instrument similar to a zither), Karin Cuellar (baroque violin), Kyran Assing (baroque cello), and Ziya Tabassian (percussion), this encounter between African traditions and European baroque music will come to life. A discovery that promises to set the grand Art Deco hall on the ninth floor of the Eaton Centre buzzing!
Voxpopuli – Prokofiev Triptych
OCTOBER 6, 7 P.M., SAINTE-HILDA DETAILS AND TICKETS
This week, the Voxpopuli Quartet presents the first concert in its Prokofiev triptych; the other two concerts in the series will take place in November and December. Each performance is hosted by “le gars qui parle”—an enthusiast who has done all the necessary research to enlighten you and provide context for the works, helping you hear them in a new light. As a bonus, these texts will be shared with you after the concert, allowing you to extend the enjoyment or continue your research if the mood strikes! (In French only)
The Loft Sessions – COMTESSA, Maria Gajraj, and Théo Curras
OCTOBER 6, 7:30 PM, SAINT-JEAN-BAPTISTE CHURCH DETAILS AND TICKET
The Canadian International Organ Competition presents the second edition of The Loft Sessions, a concert series dedicated to emerging artists and contemporary music. This week, you’ll have the opportunity to hear COMTESSA—a Montreal trio featuring Len Torrie on vocals, Maria Gajraj on organetto, and Isabelle Douailly-Backman on hurdy-gurdy—, Maria Gajraj performing solo, and organist Théo Curras premiering a work commissioned by the CIOC.
In Quebec City: Violons du Roy — Conversations baroques
OCTOBER 7 AND 8, 5:30 P.M., PALAIS MONTCALM DETAILS AND TICKETS
Six musicians from Les Violons du Roy invite you to join them for a happy hour where they’ll engage their instruments in dialogue and chat with you. Violinists Katya Poplyansky, Véronique Vychytil, and Michelle Seto; violist Jean-Louis Blouin; cellist Benoit Loiselle; and harpsichordist and organist (positive organ) Suren Barry will perform—for one hour without an intermission—works by Purcell, Bach, Handel, and Corrette, all while hosting the evening in a friendly and intimate atmosphere. The music begins at 5:30 p.m., but doors open at 5:00 p.m. Those who wish may enjoy the bar, which will be open at that time.
Michiaki Ueno, Cello Virtuoso: Origin
OCTOBER 7, 7:30 PM, SALLE BOURGIE DETAILS AND TICKETS
Cellist Michiaki Ueno will perform six works for solo cello by Japanese composers, creating a unique world where time-honored musical traditions and modern musical language converge and intertwine.
Joon Oh Kim – Les Variations Diabelli de Beethoven : l’art de la transformation
OCTOBER 7, 7:30 P.M., PAUL-DESMARAIS HALL DETAILS AND TICKETS
Joon Oh Kim, a Montreal-born pianist now based in Berlin, returns home to give a concert on Wednesday. During that evening’s performance, the young pianist will present a monumental work by one of Germany’s most famous composers, the 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli composed by Beethoven. The origin of this composition has given rise to a story, now considered more legend than fact. According to it, when Diabelli contacted 50 composers—including Beethoven—asking each to write a single variation on the waltz he had composed, Beethoven reportedly found the theme banal, well below his capabilities, and not worthy of his attention. However, the tidy sum that Diabelli was willing to offer him in exchange is said to have made him change his mind, and he is said to have composed not only the requested variation but also 32 more! Another version suggests instead that Beethoven composed these 33 variations to demonstrate just how easy it was for him… However, since this legend comes from an unscrupulous biographer whose writings contained several stories with dubious sources, it should not be taken too seriously!
In Quebec City: OSQ—Beethoven’s 8th
OCTOBER 7, 8:00 PM, PALAIS MONTCALM DETAILS AND TICKETS
The Orchestre symphonique de Québec will perform this Wednesday under the baton of the young Lithuanian conductor Izabelė Jankauskaitė. The program features four works with very distinct styles. The evening will open with Weinberg’s lively, contrasting, and richly expressive Sinfonietta No. 1, followed by Shostakovich’s highly energetic Piano Concerto No. 1. Performed by virtuoso Ilia Ovcharenko, this brilliant and daring composition culminates in a finale featuring a second soloist, trumpeter Andre Dubelsten. The program will continue with the at times mysterious, at times dramatic, atmosphere of the overture to Weber’s Der Freischütz, and will conclude with the most joyful and luminous of Beethoven’s symphonies, his Eighth. A concert that will take you on a journey through a whole range of emotions!
In Quebec City: James Ehnes and Andrew Armstrong
OCTOBER 8, 7:30 P.M., PALAIS MONTCALM DETAILS AND TICKETS
The tour featuring James Ehnes on violin and Andrew Armstrong on piano continues with a stop at the Palais Montcalm on Thursday. Traveling across Canada from Victoria to Iqaluit, the two longtime collaborators will have performed in every province by the end of this tour celebrating the violinist’s 50th birthday. The two musicians promise an evening that reflects the violinist’s style—passionate and elegant, and brimming with virtuosity.
OUM – From Bonis to Franck: An Orchestral Journey
OCTOBER 9, 7:30 P.M., CLAUDE-CHAMPAGNE HALL DETAILS AND TICKETS
The University of Montreal Orchestra presents its first concert of the season with “From Bonis to Franck: An Orchestral Journey.” To open the evening, the OUM, conducted by Mathieu Lussier, will perform Mel Bonis’s Le rêve de Cléopâtre. Following this piece, one of Ravel’s most frequently performed works, the Concerto in G Major, will feature pianist Cissy Zhou, first-prize winner of the 2025 Concerto Competition. To conclude, the musicians willgive their all in a performance of Franck’s Symphony in D Minor with all its power and splendor.
CMM Symphony Orchestra – Glimpses of Romanticism
OCTOBER 11, 3:00 P.M., MAISON SYMPHONIQUE DETAILS AND TICKETS
Conducted by Andrei Feher, the Montreal Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra will perform at the Maison symphonique this weekend. Four works, including two featuring soloists, are on the program. Trombonist Arnaud Milette will showcase his talent in Henri Tomasi’s Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra, while bassoonist Haolin Liu will shine in Carl Maria von Weber’s Concerto for Bassoon in F Major. The orchestra will also give a brilliant performance of the other two pieces: Mendelssohn’s overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2.
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