Free Lectures + Screenings @ Tafelmusik

Tafelmusik offers free lectures and screenings for the public in partnership with the Toronto Public Library and Campbell House Museum. The lectures (which run about once a month and are held at various library branches) include an introduction to Baroque music, the origins of the symphony orchestra, the influence of Bach, and more. The screenings include documentaries and concerts.

Free Concerts @ Tafelmusik

Baroque music specialists, Tafelmusik, offers free concerts now and then. The next one is The Orchestra in Baroque Germany, featuring participants from the Tafelmusik Winter Institute on Saturday January 9th, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. in the Jeanne Lamon Hall at Trinity-St. Paul's Centre.

$22 tickets for Under 30's @ the Opera

Like the TSO, the COC offers a free "Opera Under Thirty" (OUT) program. But unlike the TSO, the cheap COC tickets are usually in the top back corners. If you don't mind the heights, you can get opera tickets for $22. If you want to pay a little extra, you can get an OUT Plus ticket for $35 and they'll "move you to the best available seats on the day of the performance." They also offer package deals called NightsOUT where you can get tickets to four operas for $86. They offer six-packs for $117 too, but as of writing they are sold out for this season.

Free Concerts @ the Opera

The Canadian Opera Company (do we call it the COC? the C.O.C.? hehe) offers FREE concerts in their Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre. Concerts take place most Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12:00 p.m., and some Wednesdays at noon or 5:30 p.m. Admission is on a first-come, first-served basis and seating is limited (you sit on an oversized staircase, not chairs), so line-up early. Latecomers aren't admitted and there's no re-entry. Also, even though the concerts are at lunchtime, you can't eat in there.

Admission is FREE @ The Power Plant

Thanks to funding by BMO, admission to The Power Plant contemporary art gallery is free all day, every day! Yay! The hours are: Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Thursdays they're open until 8:00 p.m. And although they're closed otherwise, they do open on holiday Mondays. Plus, its location beside the lake makes for such a lovely view.

Sun Life Financial Museum + Arts Pass @ the Library

This is really cool and such a great idea to help underprivileged families access city sites that would cost a fortune once you added two adults plus kids. The Sun Life Financial Museum + Arts Pass is available at all Toronto Public Library branches, however, each location has a different selection. They get new ones on Saturdays, but there are often line-ups for the high-value passes (like Toronto Zoo). Lower-income neighbourhoods have more of the high-value passes, which makes sense. How it works: you sign out a pass with your library card and then have three months in which to use it. You can only go once though, but you can bring another adult and up to 5 children per pass. You can also take out more than one pass - but not more than one a week. So this week get one to the ROM, next week get one to Black Creek Pioneer Village, etc. And don't forget to use them before they expire!

Friday Night Live @ the ROM

Due to the ROM's Friday Night Live parties, the museum closes for general admission at 6:30 p.m. on Fridays now (and there's no more discount). This is lame but on the positive side, FNL happens every week. A lively party of DJs, bands and food trucks, tickets cost $15 and are available online or at the door. They do sell out and the line-ups are long, so get there early. Doors open at 7:00 p.m.