Female with her arms outstreched in front of a crowd

Historical Performance Overview

Reimagine the music of the past and add historical perspectives to your own practices as a musician. Historical Performance is a strongly applied, performance-focused study area primarily for graduate students. It provides expert, historically informed instruction in voice and period instruments.

Join Excitement

Entrants join a talented, enthusiastic cohort of peers who learn and play together in small classes and ensembles for instruments and voice. They benefit from one-to-one mentoring from distinguished faculty, masterclasses led by renowned visiting artists, and collaboration with professional ensembles such as the Theatre of Early Music, the Toronto Consort, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. 

Performing at Toronto's Metropolitan United Church
Tallis Scholars performing with Schola Cantorum

Embrace Distinction

As a major research university of international distinction, the University of Toronto supports Historical Performance students with an extraordinary depth of resources and expertise. While the Faculty of Music has particular strengths in the music of Handel, Bach, and their contemporaries, its instruction and scholarship encompass the entire tradition of Western art music. Among the many benefits it provides students are exciting opportunities to perform with the university’s well-known Schola Cantorum Vocal Ensemble and Collegium Musicum Baroque Ensemble.

Experience Excellence

Studying Historical Performance at U of T places students at the centre of one of North America’s great cities of musical culture. Toronto is home to internationally recognized historical ensembles closely connected with the Faculty of Music. They include the Theatre of Early Music, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, the Toronto Consort medieval-renaissance ensemble, and Opera Atelier.

Image of a lute with a gray background.

Upcoming Events

December
3
Historical Performance | Collegium Musicum
Free - Public - Concert
Time 7:30pm - 9:30pm
Location Walter Hall
March
1
Public - Concert
Time 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Location TD Music Hall
March
22
Concert
Time 7:30pm - 9:30pm
Location St. Paul's Basilica
March
28
Historical Performance | Collegium Musicum
Free - Public - Concert
Time 7:30pm - 9:30pm
Location Walter Hall

Past Events

November
7
Concert
Time 7:30pm - 9:30pm
Location Trinity-St. Paul's United Church & Centre for Faith, Justice and the Arts

Have a question?

Contact our Historical Performance Area Head for more information about our Historical Performance area and programs.