Since the first concert in 2006, the Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre Presented by TD Bank Group, has welcomed more than 175,000 audience members to experience the power of live performance. So in the lead-up to our 1,000th concert on February 19, we asked you to share your favourite memories or stories about the series. Here’s a sampling of the moments that impacted our audience members most.

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Dilyara K.

We've been enjoying the Free Concert Series for almost 10 years now. I remember taking my firstborn there for "cultured outings." I used to come to concerts with a stroller, sit on the warm wooden floor holding him in my lap and enjoy being among musicians and other music lovers. I was so grateful to COC for opening its doors to us – a young breastfeeding mom and her baby that would happily fall asleep to the beautiful music played there. What could be more exciting than embarking on a journey to exotic Brazil one snowy day and being carried there by a beautiful glass-laden ship? Feeling the music like a warm breeze blowing from a distant land a thousand miles away... 

I remember anticipating the announcement of the next year's program and always marking in advance the performances I wanted to attend. Being of Russian descent and missing my home country, I especially appreciated the Russian concerts. I used to come early to get good seats and would often strike up a conversation with the others in queue. It often fascinated me what an interesting and diverse crowd attended the performances. 


So what does the COC Free Concert Series mean to me and my family today?

It means the freedom to experience music, art and culture several times a week, not only on special occasions, because it is the air we breathe. It means the opportunity to transcend the borders of time and space through music and gift these unique cultural adventures to our children, making it part of their lives.

Toronto wouldn't be the same for me without the COC’s Free Concert Series. 

David Fawcett

Artists of the COC Ensemble Studio perform in a special concert celebrating the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto. 

When I saw there was to be an Invictus Games concert, I emailed Liz Upchurch (Head of the COC Ensemble Studio) and told her I had written a song on William Ernest Henley's “Invictus” poem years before, and sent her a recording and the score.

Much to my delight, and even though the repertoire had been set months earlier, she agreed to add the song to the program as an encore!

It was a memorable concert and experience and Samuel Chan sang my song beautifully.


(l-r) Mezzo-soprano Simone McIntosh, pianist Stéphane Mayer, soprano Samantha Pickett, mezzo-soprano Megan Quick, pianist Rachael Kerr and baritone Samuel Chan with composer David Fawcett, whose setting of the poem “Invictus” closed the concert in a surprise encore by Samuel Chan.

Rosemary S.

I’ve been enjoying the noon concerts at the COC ever since their inception. I often sketch (as surreptitiously as possible).

This particular concert was a Latin Jazz Ensemble which was fun to watch and listen to, both audibly and visually. They inspired me to paint them. I hope the conductor doesn’t mind that I added a bald spot, and I hope that over the years it isn’t actually there now!

Keep up the good work!

Peter D.

There was a wonderful concert a few years ago with Adrianne Pieczonka and Laura Tucker.  I remember they sang a duet from Norma as an encore which was fantastic!

(l-r) Adrianne Pieczonka and Laura Tucker in December 2007

Gene

The Arkadas Quaret in April 2013

My family (with two grandchildren) lives in downtown Toronto, and I visit them often from the Ottawa Valley. Apart from the joy of seeing them, while they're at school I look forward to the noon-hour concerts at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre. From the programs I've kept over the last seven years, I see that I've enjoyed at least 12 of these superb musical presentations. For which, thank you.

On April 25, 2013, the Arkadas Quartet was performing. Among the names of the four players, the cellist's was familiar to me; several years earlier, while a student, he had played in the Deep River Symphony Orchestra. (Yes, my home town of 4,500 people does have one.) Such a delightful surprise, that after their splendid performance of Beethoven and Ravel, I had to shake his hand and congratulate this young man. Yes, that is one fond musical memory, among many.

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The Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre Presented by TD Bank Group offers more than 70 free concerts every year in one of Toronto's most breathtaking and intimate spaces. From late September to May, you can discover exciting artists, both established and emerging, and experience the joy of live performance in an incredible variety of genres - and it's all free!

Find out more about the Free Concert Series and browse this year's calendar of concerts.

Performance Photo Credits (top to bottom): Artists of the COC Ensemble Studio with composer David Fawcett, photo: Kevin Lloyd; Adrianne Pieczonka and Laura Tucker, photo: Miles Brokenshire; Arkadas Quartet, photo: Karen E. Reeves