Subscribe
Cut-Rate Culture
August 12th, 2009 by Lori | Co-EditorThis was submitted by a reader, Anubha Momin:
Here comes September, and with it, tuition costs, book money, and empty wallets. As students, many can feel as though their money is stretched thin, that little is left for enjoyment and pleasure. An evening at the opera? Not possible… or is it? There are lots of ways to enjoy an evening of fine art, music, or dance in Toronto, but here are some of the city’s major institutions at some very minor price points.
Art Gallery of Ontario
A stunning building in and of itself, the new Frank Gehry-fied gallery houses more than 79,000 works and hosts a changing set of exhibitions.
Cost: FREE Wednesday nights from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Website: http://www.ago.net/hours-admission
Canadian Opera Company
The largest Canadian producer of opera in the country’s largest city, the COC offers world-class performances out of the Four Seasons Performing Art Centre. The 2009/10 season includes opera classics like Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Bizet’s Carmen.
Cost: COC’s Opera for a New Age provides a limited number of tickets for most shows at $20 each for anyone under the age of 30. Book early for the best availability.
Website: http://www.coc.ca/PerformancesAndTickets/Under30/OperaforaNewAgeTickets.aspx
Justina M. Barnicke Gallery
Alright, so this may not be a “major” institution, but you don’t have to travel beyond the campus walls to indulge your inner artiste. The Barnicke Gallery is constantly changing its exhibits, and staff are always available to walk you through their collections.
Cost: FREE for all, all the time. Take note of opening night festivities, where the free entrance includes beverages, fruit, and cheese. As an added bonus, the gallery is within Hart House, which boasts its own impressive collection of art work.
Website: http://www.jmbgallery.ca/exhibitions.html
National Ballet of Canada
Headlined by Tchaikovsky’s perennial favourites, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, the National Ballet of Canada promises another stellar season of elegant, entertaining performances.
Cost: Anyone between the ages of 16 and 29 can register with DanceBreak in order to gain access to $20 tickets. DanceBreak tickets are purchasable online at midnight the day of performance.
Website: http://dancebreak.ca
Royal Ontario Museum
This fabulous attraction has been recently covered on blogUT, so I shall direct you to the post: https://blogut.ca/2009/08/02/travel-the-world-for-free.
Cost: FREE for post-secondary students on Tuesdays, half price for everyone Fridays from 4:30 pm to 9:30 pm.
Website: http://www.rom.on.ca/visit/tickets.php
If you have any other suggestions for enjoying Toronto’s cultural landscape, feel free to post them in the comments!
August 13th, 2009 at 2:16 am
This list discriminates against ceramics n00b.
$6/Gardiner Museum.
August 13th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
nice, will def be using this in the fall!
August 13th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
I’d also recommend tsoundcheck. The program sells Toronto Symphony Orchestra concert tickets for $12 to anyone under the age of 35.
August 14th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
very interesting list! will check these places out.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
good work blogut. this is the exact kind of post i think most students are looking for: short, well-weritten, perfect for bookmarking and using later. i applaud this site for trying to take a university blog to the level of city blogs or othe rinfo sites. well done, well done.
ps. more money-saving tips in the future, always welcome
August 20th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
One really great place that is not mentioned here is The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery. This fall, The Power Plant gives
over all of its gallery spaces to the work of a single artist,
Berlin-based South African media artist Candice Breitz, for her
first North American survey, entitled ‘Candice Breitz: Same
Same.’ Check out what will be very cool spaces with multi-channel video installations. She samples and re-editing Hollywood cinema
and popular music to reflect on the power of mass culture’s generic conventions. Breitz’s work explores how we fashion
our identities through cultural consumption. Become a Member of the Gallery and see this show and a year’s worth of shows for free! Come to the opening party on September 18 at 8 PM – free admission.
August 26th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
don’t forget Soulpepper $5 student rush tickets at the Distillery district!
classic and contemporary theatre performed by the best production company in Toronto =)
September 1st, 2009 at 9:02 am
[...] This blog was submitted by a reader, Anubha Momin (who also wrote Cut-Rate Culture) [...]