Music Gallery (Toronto, Canada)

The Music Gallery is Toronto's Centre for Creative Music, founded in 1976 by Peter Anson and Al Mattes of the free-improvising group, CCMC. Since its inception, the MG has been a publicly assisted centre for the creation, development and performance of art music from all genres. Having hosted such luminaries as John Cage, Iannis Xenakis and Peter Brotzmann since its early days at 30 St. Patrick St. (1976-84), and continuing at 1087 Queen St. W. (1984-1993) and 179 Richmond St. (1993-2000), The Music Gallery become renowned internationally as one of Canada’s most important venues for, and presenters of, boundary-pushing, unclassifiable and creative new music.

Since 2001, The Music Gallery has found a home at St. George the Martyr Church, located at 197 John St., at the southern end of Grange Park, in close promixity to the Ontario College of Art and Design and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Currently programmed by Jonathan Bunce and John Gzowski, who were named co-artistic directors in 2006, the Music Gallery presents or co-presents more than 50 concerts per year. A variety of art music genres are represented in the five streams of programming, including contemporary classical, chamber and electro-acoustic music (Classic Avant series), free jazz and improv (Jazz Avant series), avant-rock, pop, folk and electronic music (Pop Avant series), and musics from the non-Western world (World Avant series), as well as interdisciplinary presentations involving dance, theatre, film, video and installation art (Inter Avant series). The Music Gallery season launches annually with the X Avant new music festival, first held in September 2006, and featuring cross-programming from all five concert series, and a mix of international and local artists. The Music Gallery is active in supporting Canadian new music artists on tour, in collaborating with other presenters to stage events, in developing emerging artists through its pay-what-you-can Progress series, and in deepening the public’s understanding of the music-making process through workshops and artist’s talks.