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Urban Planner: February 22, 2010
Urban Planner is Torontoist’s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to [email protected].
Lady Luck Productions will be providing some for the entertainment tonight at the Parkdale Village BIA’s Fireside Culture Week opening reception. Photo courtesy of Parkdale Village BIA.
FESTIVAL: Parkdale—that bastion of art and culture to the west—is looking to celebrate their hip, arty residents with a week of art, music, comedy, fashion, theatre, and food. For this purpose, the Parkdale Village BIA has set up Fireside Culture Week, which will see performances take place at multiple venues along Queen Street West between Roncesvalles Avenue and Dufferin Street. Today’s festivities include “Life With Mimi,” a photography exhibit visible from the street at Take Me Back (a vintage clothing store in west Parkdale) and the opening-night party at Snowball Gallery featuring performances by Lady Luck Productions and Najjah’s World. Snowball Gallery and Workshop (1690 Queen Street West), 7 p.m., FREE.
MUSIC: To those not paying attention, it would seem like classical compositions exist only in Hollywood dramas about the Holocaust. Starting today, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (in collaboration with Soundstreams Canada and the faculty of music at the University of Toronto) will set out to remind everyone that contemporary orchestral music is still churning out suites, concertos, and symphonies to rival the old masters. The sixth annual New Creations Festival will highlight work from Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov. The festival will feature three main concerts at Roy Thomson Hall, all including pieces composed by Golijov: Azul on February 25 featuring conductor Peter Oundjian and Grammy Award–winning soprano Dawn Upshaw, La Pasión on February 27 featuring conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya and actor Colm Feore, and La Plus Forte on March 3 featuring soprano Barbara Hannigan and Golijov himself. Tonight we recommend checking out the free Soundstreams Canada talk with Golijov at the Gardiner Museum called “The Diverse World of Osvaldo Goldijov.” The festival will run until March 3. Gardiner Museum (111 Queens Park), 7:30 p.m., FREE (performances are $28–128).
MUSIC: And now for something that’s definitely not orchestral music. Veteran British punk rock band Leatherface are making their first ever Canadian appearance at Wrongbar tonight. Leatherface may not be a household name (at least not as far as British punk bands from the ’80s go), but they have accrued a rabid cult following in the United States, influencing bands like Hot Water Music and Dillinger Four. They’ll be playing with Yesterday’s Ring, Sinkin Ships, and Orphan Choir. Wrongbar (1279 Queen Street West), doors at 8 p.m., $20 (19+ event).
WORDS: Last month they brought you Dinosaur Porn, and this month the good people at The Emergency Response Unit are launching their next series of chapbooks (a quaintly antiquated name for small, pocket-sized booklets usually containing poetry). To celebrate their sophomore year of DIY publishing they’re holding a launch party at The Magpie with readings by David Brock (Gasmask Summer), Elisabeth de Mariaffi (Letter on St. Valentine’s Day), Jacob McArthur Mooney (Vox Populism), and Aaron Tucker (apartments). The Magpie (831 Dundas Street West), 7:30 p.m., FREE.