You are welcome to attend these free concerts in-person or online at 56 Queen Streeet East! Donations go towards our Music program. Noon at Met concerts are livestreamed in HD here at metunited.ca/live and on our YouTube channel.
Freewill donations support the ongoing musical ministry of Metropolitan United Church, and allow us to maintain our landmark heritage musical instruments and building.
Here's our lineup for the next few months. Full bios can be found in the monthly program PDF.
Mar. 2 - Jonelle Sills, soprano and Brahm Goldhamer, pianist
Mar. 9 - Peter Nikiforuk, organ
Mar. 16 - Luis Medina and Daniel Turner, guitarists
Mar. 23 - Jonas Apeland Salomonsen, organ
Mar. 30 - Stéphanie McKay-Turgeon, vocalist; Dakota Scott-Digout, pianist
Please note that there is no concert on Apr. 6 during Holy Week
Apr. 13 - Dior String Quartet
Apr. 20 - Organist Sharon Beckstead
Apr. 27 - University of Toronto pianists Mariya Orlenko, Yin Yin, Kelsey Zhong, and Shuman Zhou
May 4 - Glenn Gould School Chamber Music Showcase, with organist Jonathan Oldengarm
May 11 - Organist Stefani Bedin
May 18 - Metropolitan Silver Band Quartet
May 25 - Organist William Maddox
Violin Sonata No. 3, BWV 1005 (J.S. Bach, 1685-1750)
Adagio
Fuga
Largo
Allegro Assai
Daniel Turner, guitarist
Aires de Son (G. Tamez, b. 1948)
Aire Istmeño
Quedo
Son Trunco
Sonatango (J.C. Oliva, b. 1947)
Pasión
Te perdono
Vuelvo a creer
Tengo el alma destrozada
Luis Angel Medina, guitarist
Prelude and Fugue in G major, BWV 541 (Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685-1750)
Sonata No. 5 in D minor, Op. 62 (Wilhelm Rudnick, 1850-1927)
Maestoso
Andante Cantabile
Finale
Symphonie VI, Op 42, No. 2 (Charles-Marie Widor, 1844-1937)
Adagio
Finale
Three Songs (Florence Price, 1887-1953)
Beside the Sea
Dawn's Awakening
Moonbridge
Stridono Lassú (Ruggero Leoncavallo, 1857-1919)
Vilja's Lied (Franz Lehar, 1870-1948)
Two Songs (Johannes Brahms, 1883 -1897)
Es träumte mir
Unbewegte laue Luft
3 Songs from Honey and Rue (André Previn, 1929 - 2019)
Whose House Is This
Do You Know Him
Take My Mother Home
Concerto in D major, BWV 972 (after Violin Concerto in D major, RV 230)
Antonio Vivaldi, 1678-1741;
arr. J.S. Bach, 1685-1750
[Allegro]
Larghetto
Allegro
Variations on an Old Folk Tune (The Fair Hills of Eire)
Amy Beach, 1867-1944
From 7 Preludes on Latino Hymns, op. 133
Derek Healey, b. 1936
Cuando fue Jesús (The Raising of Lazarus)
Saludo, saludo (Christmas)
Mananitas a La Virgen de Guadaloupe (Morning Song to the Virgin)
Trio for Trumpet, Violoncello, and Piano
Eric Ewazen, b. 1954
with David Liam Roberts, violoncello
Met's Wayne C. Vance Organ Scholar
Processional (Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, 1875-1912)
Reverie (William Grant Still, 1895-1978)
Suite (Florence Price, 1887-1953)
Fantasy - Fughetta - Air - Toccato [sic]
Reflection (Chan Ka Nin, b. 1949)
The Lord is My Shepherd (Kola Owolabi, b. 1977)
O Give Thanks To the Lord (Kola Owolabi)
Met's Minister of Music plays music of Herbert Fricker and others, from the collection of Ivor Baldwin
Arioso and Finale (David Hurd, b. 1950)
Retrospection (Florence Price, 1899-1952)
From Two Preludes on Yoruba Folk Melodies (Fela Sowande, 1905-1987)
1. K’A mura
Joshua fit de Battle ob Jericho (Spiritual, arr. Fela Sowande)
A Whimsical Intermezzo (Judith M. Baity, b. ca. 1960)
Go Down, Moses (Spiritual, arr. W.C. Handy, 1873-1958 ;adapted by Walter C. Simon)
Prizewinner in the COC's Centre Stage Competition
With Spencer Kryzanowski, pianist
Dich teure Halle, from Tannhäuser (Wagner)
Three Songs (Emery)
For Broken and Tired am I
Sweet Bide with me
Requiescat
Porgi, amor, qualche ristoro, from Le Nozze di Figaro (W.A. Mozart)
Four Songs, op. 13 (Barber)
Sure on this shining night
Hérodiade (Massenet)
Il est doux, il est bon
Rückert-Lieder (Mahler)
Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen
Ich atmet einen Linden Duft
Um Mitternacht
Prélude, Fugue et Variation, op. 11 - César Franck, 1822-1890
(version by the composer for harmonium and piano)
Adoration - Felix Borowski, 1872-1956
arr. for piano and organ by Roy Spaulding Stoughton, 1884-1953
Symphonic Piece, for Organ and Piano - Joseph W. Clokey, 1890-1960
Dialogue
Romance
Scherzo
Intermezzo
Fugue
Aaron James is the Director of Music at the Toronto Oratory of St Philip Neri, and a sessional lecturer in organ at the University of Toronto. An alumnus of the Eastman School of Music, he graduated in 2016 with both a PhD degree in musicology and a DMA degree in organ, along with the Performer’s Certificate in organ. He was the 2011 winner of the National Organ Playing Competition of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, and has won numerous other prizes for his organ playing, including first place in the Florence and Stanley Osborne Organ Competition and the Howard Fairclough Organ Competition; he was also a finalist in the 2012 Franz Schmidt International Organ Competition (Kitzbühel, Austria). He is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, and currently serves the College as national Chair of Examinations. His writing has been published in various scholarly and general-interest publications in print and online, including the Journal of the Alamire Foundation, Early Music, Antiphon, New Liturgical Movement, Organ Canada, Sacred Music, The Lamp, Oxford Bibliographies Online and Grove Music Online.
Prelude and Fugue in C Minor, Op 37, No. 1 (1837) - Felix Mendelssohn, 1809-1847
Partita “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme,” Op. 8, No. 2 (1935) - Hugo Distler, 1908-1942
Toccata
Bicinium
Fuge
Fugues in C Minor and F Major, from Four Fugues (1942) - Ernst Pepping, 1901-1981
Introduction and Passacaglia in D Minor, WoO IV/6 (1899) Max Reger, 1873-1916
Cari Astleford grew up in northern BC. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music in organ performance from Burman University in Lacombe, Alberta under the instruction of Dr. Wendy Markosky. At the same time, she also graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She then moved on to Edmonton’s University of Alberta for her Master’s in organ performance, where she studied with Dr. Marnie Giesbrecht. While living in Edmonton, she became the organ scholar/assistant organist at Holy Trinity Anglican Church. She was also actively involved in the Royal Canadian College of Organists’ Edmonton Centre, including being treasurer for four years. Cari now resides in Toronto with her husband and is studying at the University of Toronto. She is a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts in organ performance under the direction of Dr. Patricia Wright. Cari’s doctoral research focuses on German neo-Baroque organ music in the years 1920-1945.
Transports de joie, from L’Ascension - Olivier Messiaen, 1908-1992
Alles, was von Gott geboren, from BWV 80 - J.S. Bach, 1685-1750
transcribed for organ by Rashaan Allwood
Prelude in G, BWV 884 - J.S. Bach transcribed by Max Reger, 1873-1916
In memory of… - Rashaan Allwood
Fantasia on Von Gott will ich nicht lassen - Bert Matter, b. 1937
Canonic Etude no. 2 in A minor - Robert Schumann, 1810-1856
So There! - Rashaan Allwood
Adagio, from Cello Concerto in E minor, op. 85 - Edward Elgar, 1857-1924
transcribed by Rashaan Allwood
Allegro marziale, from Mazeppa, s. 100 - Franz Liszt, 1811-1886
transcribed by Rashaan Allwood
Rashaan Rori Allwood is a multi-talented musician based out of Toronto, currently pursuing a PhD in Composition. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Piano Performance and a Master's degree in Organ Performance. Rashaan is the recipient of the 2022 Marilyn Mason Award in Organ Composition from the American Guild of Organists, who commissioned him to compose a new piece for solo organ to be premiered in Washington in 2022. Rashaan was also one of the ICOT call for scores winners for short Piano works by Canadian composers in 2020. Rashaan is now the Director of Music at St. Ansgar Lutheran Church, Toronto where he regularly premieres his own new works, and organises performances for choir and instrumentalists. As a soloist, he has toured across Europe, and performed at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, UK, St. Nikolai-Kirche in Leipzig, Germany and St. Pierre’s Cathedral in Geneva, Switzerland.