At the Harbourfront, there's a summer full of festivals:

• June 27-29: Anthems and Icons
  Songwriting has become an integral aspect of creating and expressing Canadian identity, painting broad landscapes in melody, exploring the rhythms of our times, and singing out our stories. Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young built the standard for Canadian songcraft. This festival weekend follows the trail of their legacy, bringing together over a dozen of Canada’s most gifted singer/songwriters from across seven provinces.
• July 1: Canada Day: Canada Then and Now
  Come celebrate the nation's birthday as Harbourfront brings together the past, present and future of our country through music, film, storytelling and family fun. Travel back in time to the music of the 20s and 30s, hear contemporary new Canadian sounds, and go all the way out to the leading edge of urban culture to discover the range of what is truly Canadian.
• July 4 - 6: Labatt Blues Festival
  Get to the roots of the blues through the eyes of "real deal" bluesmasters, and hear the latest innovations. From Corey Harris and blues historian Fruteland Jackson, through a celebration of Aboriginal blues at the Rez Bluez 10th anniversary party, to the digital blues of Bonewagon, this festival explores the diversity of the blues.
• July 10-13, July 18-20: World's Fare: The Americas Now
  A celebration of global culture and food, World’s Fare is Harbourfront Centre’s flagship summer festival. This year's theme, The Americas Now exemplifies the traditions and fusions born out of both the melting pot and the mosaic. Rich and diverse cultural collisions that we see as a result of immigration, travel, and the internet, have brought the world together, cross- pollinated identity and translated into artistic practices rich in cultural history and on the cutting-edge of contemporary culture.
• July 25-29: Francophonix
  A mélange of storytelling, music and dance from Haiti, Senegal and St. Dominique join forces with film screenings, poetry and theatrical presentations from French Canadian actors, directors, writers and poets. Les bons temps will roll when Louisianan, Acadian and Québécois musical traditions mix it up with African "soukous", Carribean "zouk" and Arabic "rai" in a broad palate of French fare.
• August 1-4: Guinness Island Soul
  Caribbean vibes fill the air as Harbourfront Centre joins the Caribana jump up with Trinidadian soca, Jamaican reggae and some tropical Latin twists.
• August 8-10: Masala! Mehndi! Masti!
  Come see what 5000 years of South Asian culture has created! A new generation of artists vibe together to present music, dance, film, theatre, literature and poetry, natural health practices, social issues, delicious spicy food, kids crafts and much more. World premieres and hot new works, late night parties, classical performances, seminars and workshops all come together in a dynamic fashion.
• August 15-17: Gobsmacked! A Revel of Offbeat Expression
  Revel in all that is oddball and experience the bizarre, quirky and nutty sides of visual art, dance, music and theatre all weekend long. Harbourfront brings together the most offbeat artists ever to hit the city’s waterfront in an original tribute to the creativity of life and art.
• August 22-24: Stella Artois Hot & Spicy Food Festival
  Tantalizing global fare and savoury artistic fusions join together on this favorite festival weekend, featuring everything that’s “hot in a pot”! Legendary Guinea dance band Bembeya Jazz will whet your appetite for three days of exciting culinary arts and culture. Explore Latin, African and Carribean traditions through cooking demonstrations, sizzling dance and music.
• August 29-September 1: Fresh
  From tablas to turntables, graffiti to gaming, Fresh celebrates contemporary artists exploring emerging culture. Hip-hop, punk, folk, funk, film, slam poetry, video installations, dance, graffiti and fluid discussions are some of the instruments in the modern orchestra of cultural exchange. Join the underground’s cutting-edge creators, international stars and local innovators on the waterfront.

All Harbourfront festivals feature both free and ticketed events. Check the Harbourfront's site for more details. The Harbourfront also has a series of kid-friendly Family Sunday Concerts starting after the summer. The first features Jack Grunsky on September 28 at 1pm. Watch their site for details.

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra gets back to business on September 24 with Oundjian and Kuerti, featuring conductor Peter Oundjian, pianist Anton Kuerti, and a programme of Rossini, Beethoven, and Ravel. For full details of the upcoming season, keep an eye on the TSO's website, or call the TSO at 416-593-7769.

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra haven't gone away for the summer. The Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute have some gigs on: there's the TBSI Student Concert on Friday June 27 at 12.30pm at the Royal Conservtory of Music, 273 Bloor St West. Free admission but call for tickets at 416 964 6337. Then there's a Grand Finale Concert on Monday June 30 at 7.30pm at Grace Church on the Hill, 300 Lonsdale Road. The Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir join forces with the student orchestra and choir (some 90 performers in all!) to present a concert of orchestral and choral delights. Tickets are $10- $15; again, call 416 964 6337.

The chamber orchestra Sinfonia Toronto pick up their instruments again on October 25 with Very Violin, featuring Corey Cerovsek plaing Harman, Schubert, Rossini, and more. Sinfonia is also planning a series of young people's concerts at Lawrence Park Community Church, starting with Rhythm and Melody on October 19 at 3pm. For more info, call 416-499-0403.

The Hannaford Street Silver Band (left) are playing gigs out of town for the summer: they're in Campbellford on July 12 and 13, and in Parry Sound on July 19. They're back in T-O on Friday October 17 with A Festival of Brass. Concerts are at the Jane Mallett Theatre at 27 Front East. For more info, check out their website or call 416 366 7723.

The Canadian Opera Company are have lined up a summertime treat for Toronto's audiences before they kick off their 2003-04 season in September. The Summer Opera Concerts take place at Harbourfront's Concert Stage on August 26, 27, and 28. It's free, with a suggested $5 donation to Canadian Feed the Children. The new season begins onSeptember 25 with Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten. Concerts take place in the Hummingbird Centre, 1 Front St E, but look forward to the Four Seasons Centre, now under construction, which will become the new home to the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet in the fall of 2006. Get further info and purchase your tickets on the Canadian Opera Company's website.

At the Princess of Wales Theatre, The Lion King is due to close on September 28 after a record-breaking three year run. Tickets are on sale through closing night. The stage version takes the animated film as a starting point, but enriches the music with powerful African elements, and introduces some entirely new numbers. A six-time Tony Award winner, The Lion King stretches and breaks the boundaries of the stage to thrill and move audiences of all ages. Get your tickets through Mirvish's On Stage Now site.

Mamma Mia! is at the Royal Alexandra Theatre on King West, but the show's on a summer hiatus from July 1 until September 30. This tale of a mother and daughter on a tiny Greek island weaves together all of ABBA's best-loved songs - which is to say, some of the most hummable pop tunes ever put on vinyl. If you want to buy tickets, or if you bought tickets for the hiatus period, call Ticket King at 416 872 1212 or see On Stage Now.

For an in-depth look at the dynamic club scene, please check the website of the Toronto Downtown Jazz Society.

Concert halls

Air Canada Centre - 40 Bay Street (between Union Station and the Gardiner Expressway). Tel: 872-5000

Artword Theatre - 75 Portland Street (1 Block E. of Bathurst, just South of King St.). Tel: 408-1146

Betty Oliphant Theatre - (home of the National Ballet School) 404 Jarvis Street. Tel: 410-5455

Du Maurier Theatre Centre - 231 Queens Quay W. (at Harbourfront). Tel: 973-3000

Elgin Theatre - 189 Yonge St., Toronto (north of Queen). Tel: 314-2901

Ford Centre for the Performing Arts - 5040 Yonge Street (in North York at Empress Avenue). Tel: 733-0545

Glenn Gould Studio - 250 Front St. W. (in the CBC building, at John Street). Tel: 205-5555

Heliconian Hall - 35 Hazelton Avenue (in Yorkville, north of Scollard street).

Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse - 79A St. George St.

Hummingbird Centre - 1 Front Street E. (at Yonge), Toronto M5E 1B2, 393-74699

Leah Posluns Theatre - 4588 Bathurst Street (North of Sheppard). Tel: 785-0333

Massey Hall - 178 Victoria Street (at Shuter, near Yonge). Tel: 872-4255

Molson Ampitheatre - 909 Lakeshore Blvd. W. (at Ontario Place). Tel: 360-5600

Molson Place - 235 Queens Quay West (West of York Quay Centre). Tel: 973-3000

Music Gallery - 179 Richmond St. W. (at John Street). Tel: 204-1080

Opera Ontario - A company of national stature operating in Southern Ontario in the Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo areas. It is Canada's fourth largest opera company in terms of mainstage audience, attendance and budget size. It operates with a strong commitment to using Canadian performing artists performs all its operas in their original languages with English surtitles.

Pantages Theatre - 244 Victoria Street (between Queen Street East and Shutter Street). Tel: 362-3218

Premiere Dance Theatre - 207 Queens Quay West (at Harbourfront, at the bottom of York Street). Tel: 973-3000

The Royal Conservatory of Music - 273 Bloor Street West. Tel: 408-2825

Roy Thomson Hall - 60 Simcoe St., (at King St W., near University Ave.). Tel: 593-4828

St Lawrence Centre for the Arts - 27 Front Street East (at Yonge). Tel: 366-1656

Trinity-St. Paul's Centre - 427 Bloor Street West. Tel: 964-9562

Trinity Basement Theatre - 619 Sherbourne Street (half a block south of Bloor). Tel. 410-5455

Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building - 80 Queen's Park (behind the Planetarium. Subway stop: Museum). Tel: 516-1496

Winter Garden Theatre - 189 Yonge St., Toronto (north of Queen). Tel: 314-2901

Music Organizations

Autumn Leaf - Productions of new Opera, forums, and professional development workshops

The Beaches International Jazz Festival - every July, in Toronto's East end

Canadian Opera Company - 227 Front Street East, Toronto, M5A 1E8. Tel: 363-6671

EnsembleNoir - Ensemble Noir is a Toronto-based independent, non-profit, professional music organization dedicated to performing and promoting contemporary music, with an emphasis on the works of composers from Africa and its Diaspora.

Mooredale Concerts - Concerts are programmed to inspire and entertain the whole family: from instrumental soloists to chamber music, from chamber orchestra to chamber opera, full symphony orchestra, vocal soloists, and choral works with orchestra. Stories about the composers are sprinkled in between pieces. Tel: 922-3714

New Guitar - A concert series devoted to the performance of contemporary concert music written for guitar, including both ensemble and solo guitar music. Click here for email information. Tel. 252-4792

New Music Concerts - 157 Carlton Street, Suite 203. Tel: 961-9594.

Opera Atelier - With an emphasis on historically informed performances, the company has developed a highly diversified repertoire, interpreting opera, ballet and drama from the 17th and 18th centuries. Its productions feature soloists of international acclaim, period ballet, original instruments, elaborate stage decor and exquisite costumes.

Royal Conservatory of Music - 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto, M5S 1W2. Tel: 408-282

Tafelmusik - Canada's Baroque orchestra on period instruments. The Orchestra has 19 permanent members and many additional members who perform when varied instrumentation is needed. All members of the orchestra are specialists in historical performance practice.

Toronto Children's Chorus - One of the premiere children's choirs, the TCC is renowned for its exceptional choral artistry and commitment to Canadian works and new commissions. Over 300 Toronto-area children ages 7-15 perform annually a wide range of music spanning sacred works of the Renaissance to challenging contemporary works from diverse cultures and traditions.

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir - Canada's world renowned large vocal ensemble presents rich interpretations of works befitting a finely-tuned choral orchestra, and provides scholarships and support to talented composers and singers of choral music. 60 Simcoe Street, Toronto, M5H 2Y4. Tel:  598-0422

Toronto Symphony Orchestra -Tel: 591-1501

Toronto Symphony Orchestra Musicians - Meet the Orchestra and the musicians behind it. Bios, chambermusic ensembles, teachers, music humour, links, a catalogue of records made by the TSO or its musicians, and a newsletter.

Toronto Downtown Jazz Society - responsible for promoting Jazz, circulating information about upcoming Jazz events, and organizing the Du Maurier Toronto Jazz Festival. Tel: 416-928-2033

Toronto Blues Society - 910 Queen St. West, Suite B04, Toronto, M6J 1G6. Tel: 538-3885

Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra - The Wind Orchestra employs some of Toronto's most talented young musicians and offers them the opportunity to play challenging concertworks in a professional setting.  160 Briar Hill Ave., Toronto, M4R 1H9. Fax: 482-0401

York Symphony Orchestra - A group of talented musicians who join forces to perform fine classical music for the love of it. The Orchestra is based in Thornhill (in York Region, a group of suburbs north of Toronto). Box 355 Richmond Hill, L4C 4Y6. Tel: 410-0860