The days are getting shorter and darkness falls earlier as October settles in. Fortunately, the invention of electricity means we don\u2019t have to go to bed when the sun sets! And since we\u2019re not going to bed as early as the sun, we might as well go out and enjoy the last few mild evenings \u2014 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 \u2014 while you still can!<\/p>\n
OCTOBER 5\u201310, 1:00 PM; OCTOBER 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 7:30 PM; AND OCTOBER 10, 2:00 PM, SEGAL CENTRE DETAILS AND TICKETS<\/a><\/p>\n 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\u2019s life and the legacy he left behind.<\/p>\n VoixMonde: AfroClassique<\/p>\n OCTOBER 6, 5:00 P.M., LE 9E DETAILS AND TICKETS<\/a><\/p>\n A fusion of two musical styles you probably didn\u2019t expect awaits you tomorrow: Baroque music meets African music. Thanks to Deo Munyakazi (vocals, composition, and inanga\u2014a 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!<\/p>\n Voxpopuli \u2013 Prokofiev Triptych<\/p>\n OCTOBER 6, 7 P.M., SAINTE-HILDA DETAILS AND TICKETS<\/a><\/p>\n 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 \u201cle gars qui parle\u201d\u2014an 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)<\/p>\n The Loft Sessions \u2013 COMTESSA, Maria Gajraj, and Th\u00e9o Curras<\/p>\n OCTOBER 6, 7:30 PM, SAINT-JEAN-BAPTISTE CHURCH DETAILS AND TICKET<\/a><\/p>\n 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\u2019ll have the opportunity to hear COMTESSA\u2014a Montreal trio featuring Len Torrie on vocals, Maria Gajraj on organetto, and Isabelle Douailly-Backman on hurdy-gurdy\u2014, Maria Gajraj performing solo, and organist Th\u00e9o Curras premiering a work commissioned by the CIOC.<\/p>\n In Quebec City: Violons du Roy \u2014 Conversations baroques<\/p>\n OCTOBER 7 AND 8, 5:30 P.M., PALAIS MONTCALM DETAILS AND TICKETS<\/a><\/p>\n Six musicians from Les Violons du Roy invite you to join them for a happy hour where they\u2019ll engage their instruments in dialogue and chat with you. Violinists Katya Poplyansky, V\u00e9ronique Vychytil, and Michelle Seto; violist Jean-Louis Blouin; cellist Benoit Loiselle; and harpsichordist and organist (positive organ) Suren Barry will perform\u2014for one hour without an intermission\u2014works 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.<\/p>\n Michiaki Ueno, Cello Virtuoso: Origin\u00a0<\/p>\n OCTOBER 7, 7:30 PM, SALLE BOURGIE DETAILS AND TICKETS<\/a><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Joon Oh Kim \u2013 Les Variations Diabelli de Beethoven : l\u2019art de la transformation<\/p>\n OCTOBER 7, 7:30 P.M., PAUL-DESMARAIS HALL DETAILS AND TICKETS<\/a><\/p>\n Joon Oh Kim, a Montreal-born pianist now based in Berlin, returns home to give a concert on Wednesday. During that evening\u2019s performance, the young pianist will present a monumental work by one of Germany\u2019s 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\u2014including Beethoven\u2014asking 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\u2026 However, since this legend comes from an unscrupulous biographer whose writings contained several stories with dubious sources, it should not be taken too seriously!<\/p>\n In Quebec City: OSQ\u2014Beethoven\u2019s 8th<\/p>\n OCTOBER 7, 8:00 PM, PALAIS MONTCALM DETAILS AND TICKETS<\/a><\/p>\n The Orchestre symphonique de Qu\u00e9bec will perform this Wednesday under the baton of the young Lithuanian conductor Izabel\u0117 Jankauskait\u0117. The program features four works with very distinct styles. The evening will open with Weinberg\u2019s lively, contrasting, and richly expressive Sinfonietta No. 1, followed by Shostakovich\u2019s 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\u2019s Der Freisch\u00fctz, and will conclude with the most joyful and luminous of Beethoven\u2019s symphonies, his Eighth. A concert that will take you on a journey through a whole range of emotions!<\/p>\n In Quebec City: James Ehnes and Andrew Armstrong<\/p>\n