2026 culture lookahead: Five classical music and opera events to catch

Winnipeg New Music Festival

Five concerts begin with a program titled Sunrise (which includes guest composer Christopher Theofanidis’s sonic drama Rainbow Body) and close, naturally, with Sunset, which includes the world premiere of Harry Stafylakis‘s Symphony No. 3: Beyond Horizon. It is his final major work as the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s composer-in-residence, a post he’s filled for 10 fruitful years. Jan. 21 to 29, multiple venues, Winnipeg

Toronto Symphony Orchestra: European Tour

On its first tour abroad since 2017, the TSO presents Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (with Canadian soloist Bruce Liu), Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, Bartok’s Violin Concerto No. 1 (with Patricia Kopatchinskaja) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. Also on the program are Rufus Wainwright’s A Woman’s Face (Sonnet 20) and Kelly-Marie Murphy’s Curiosity, Genius, and the Search for Petula Clark, a TSO commission. Jan. 27 to Feb. 9; Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Spain, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp and Vienna

Montreal Symphony Orchestra: Barbara Hannigan

A program curated by the renowned Nova Scotian features works by Jacques Offenbach, Glenn Miller and Kurt Weill, whose Youkali is a favourite tango of hers. And while it traditionally takes two to sing and conduct, the Grammy-winning hyphenate will handle both chores. Feb. 4 and 5, Montreal Symphony House

Kevin Chen

One day after finishing second in the gruelling and prestigious International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw last October, Kevin Chen told The Globe and Mail, “It still hasn’t sunk in completely.” If the 20-year-old Calgarian hasn’t come to grips with his achievement two months later, his management and concert bookers surely have. Expect Chen to be busy in 2026. Feb. 28, White Rock Baptist Church, Surrey, B.C.; March 7 and 8, George Weston Recital Hall, Toronto

Canadian Opera Company: Werther

In the spring, a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love. But in Jules Massenet’s 1892 opera Werther, presented in a new production next spring by the COC, a young poet’s thoughts turn dark as can be when he falls for a woman who can never be his. May 7 to 23, Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto