Canadian tango ensemble Payadora has a busy concert schedule during October and November 2026, with performances across Ontario and a special presentation of Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango in Florida, USA.
Founded in Toronto in 2013, Payadora combines the tango and folk traditions of Argentina and Uruguay with influences from classical, jazz and world music. The ensemble features Drew Jurecka on bandoneon, violin and mandolin, Rebekah Wolkstein on violin and vocals, Joseph Phillips on double bass and guitar, Mark Camilleri on piano, and Uruguayan singer Elbio Fernandez.
The October and November concerts are:
October 2 – Heliconian Hall, Toronto, Ontario
Payadora will collaborate with the Vesuvius Ensemble at Toronto’s Heliconian Hall.
October 10 – The Jazz Room, Waterloo, Ontario
The ensemble will perform at The Jazz Room, 59 King Street North, Waterloo. The concert begins at 8pm.
October 23 – York Woods Library Theatre, North York, Ontario
Payadora will collaborate with La Magia Candombe at York Woods Library Theatre.
October 28 – Algoma Conservatory of Music, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Payadora presents Tango and Beyond at The Loft, Algoma Conservatory of Music, beginning at 7.30pm. The programme showcases the ensemble’s distinctive mixture of tango, classical, folk and world-music influences.
November 12 – Duncan Theatre, Lake Worth, Florida, USA
Payadora will present its award-winning Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango at the Duncan Theatre. The programme sets poetry, testimony and writings connected with Holocaust survivors to music inspired by the Polish tango tradition of the 1930s. Two performances are scheduled during the day.
November 19 – The Village Social (The Vill), Cambridge, Ontario
Payadora returns to Ontario for a concert at The Village Social, 18 Tannery Street East, Cambridge. The performance begins at 8pm and will feature the ensemble’s combination of traditional tango repertoire, original compositions and arrangements.
November 22 – St. John’s United Church, Creemore, Ontario
The final November engagement currently listed is an Afternoon of Chamber Music, presented by the Purple Hills Arts & Heritage Society at St. John’s United Church, 192 Mill Street, Creemore. The Payadora Tango Ensemble concert begins at 2pm.
Payadora has developed an international reputation through performances in Canada, the United States, South America and Europe. Its instrumentation gives the group its characteristic tango sound, with Jurecka’s bandoneon playing a central role alongside violin, piano, double bass and vocals.
The ensemble’s Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango recording reached No. 1 on the World Music Charts Europe, while Payadora received Germany’s Weltmusikpreis RUTH in 2024 and was nominated for the 2026 Canadian Folk Music Awards Pushing Boundaries Award.
Further information at Payadora official website.
