Your guide to Montreal’s classical music scene
All of Montreal’s classical music concerts on one website
Liszt is a platform that provides information on upcoming classical music events in Montreal. Their website lists concert dates, price ranges and locations.
McGill University students and classical music enthusiasts Barmaan Mansouri and Sofian Shanta launched the initiative in August 2026 to encourage people to discover the genre by making the information easy to access.
Shanta explained that finding information about these events in Montreal was really difficult.
“Often we wanted to go [see] performances in classical music, but we realized there isn't one specific resource where we could find all the [necessary] information,” Shanta said.
As they started building the website, they brainstormed ways to inspire people to learn about classical music.
“We wanted to create a tool to put all these concerts in one place to make it more accessible,” Mansouri said.
Shanta believes classical music is meant to be shared, so the two created the “Ensemble” feature for the website. This tool lets users join or create open groups to go to concerts with others interested in the genre.
The pair named it after Liszt, Shanta’s favourite classical music composer.
“The ironic and funny thing about Liszt is that he was one of the most influential people to bring piano out to the public,” Mansouri said. “He was big on promoting classical music; that's why the name Liszt works well for our website.”
The name also plays on the word “list,” since that is the website's primary function.
“There is a stigma that classical music is boring, [or] for snobs and older people,” Shanta said.
Mansouri and Shanta believe that this assumption is a big reason people their age don’t try to learn about classical music.
“Classical music sounds completely different in real life than on a speaker. It feels like it's resonating in your soul,” Shanta explained.
Both of them encourage people their age to see it for themselves.
Mansouri and Shanta report that the audience is always happy to see students interested in learning about the genre. The two described these concerts as a judgment-free zone where you don’t need the fanciest clothes to belong.
Concordia University student Joaquin Guitart has seen Liszt’s videos across social media. He appreciates that the site represents a lesser-known genre among young people.
“I love that they contribute to people getting to know about classical music, especially since it is not as mainstream as pop or rock music,” Guitart said. “I think it is a great idea!”
A video on Liszt’s Instagram page features Catherine St-Arnaud, Dorothéa Ventura and Robyn Perry of Les Idées heureuses, a baroque music ensemble in Montreal. The two created the video to fight against this “snobbish” image of classical music.
“They really want younger people to come to their event,” Mansouri said.
Viewers can also find other posts and videos on their page that demystify classical music and portray it as a fun and affordable cultural activity.
“There are reduced rates for students, groups and people under 35,” Mansouri said.
To learn more about upcoming classical music events, visit their website, liszt.cc, or their Instagram page, @liszt.cc.
This article originally appeared in Volume 47, Issue 5, published November 10, 2026.
