Tickets are available here, or by contacting our box office! Historic St. Mary’s is located at 1374 Hamilton Road. Our box office is open Tuesday through Sunday from 12-5.
An annual favorite, Under the Spire’s Midsummer Magic series returns this year with a special edition. 2023’s Midsummer Magic series honors the impact that our festival’s artistic director Robert Kortgaard has had at Under the Spire festival. This will be Robert’s final year as artistic director, and to celebrate the legacy he has created here he has programmed two evenings of his favourite music – opera favourites and summer songs.
Robert Kortgaard has been actively involved with the festival since its early days, serving as the artistic director for 25 out of the festival’s 28 years. His first introduction to the festival was as a performer in the 1998 season alongside soprano Wendy Nielsen. In 1999, Kortgaard was asked to aid in the artistic development of the festival by founder Mary Pendergast, and this eventually led to his tenure as Artistic Director. Notably, Kortgaard was responsible for curating the Midsummer Magic series, a weekend-long classical music celebration that runs annually to this day. About his experience with the festival, Robert said: “My time at Under the Spire Music Festival has been a beautiful journey, and one for which I am endlessly grateful,” says Kortgaard. “These past 25 years as the festival’s Artistic Director have allowed me to meet incredibly talented artists, work alongside passionate and dedicated music-lovers, and, of course, partake in amazing performances. Live music connects and nourishes us all, and opportunities to come together as a community are more important than ever. I look forward to enjoying the phenomenal experience of a concert in our acoustically-stunning venue for years to cone – both in the pews and on stage!”
The Midsummer Magic series runs as follows: Opera Favorites on August 4th at 7:30PM and Summer Songs on August 6th at 3PM. This series features Robert Kortgaard and his partner in music and life, Peter Tiefenbach, on piano. They are joined by three of Canada’s finest young and emerging opera singers: Midori Marsh (soprano), Parker Clements (baritone), and Alex Halliday (bass-baritone). These five musicians will deliver an evening of familiar, show-stopping and emotionally engaging opera favorites, followed by an afternoon of German lied, French chanson and four-handed piano compositions.
July 29th & 30th Weekly Update: Jessica Gallant is Dolly Parton, and an Afternoon of Baroque Music.