This event has passed.

The Stratford Festival Presents “Take the ‘A’ Train… to Stratford,” featuring Dr. Eric Fillion, Melvin Gibbs, and Garvia Bailey

Name: The Stratford Festival Presents “Take the ‘A’ Train… to Stratford,” featuring Dr. Eric Fillion, Melvin Gibbs, and Garvia Bailey
Start: 2026-07-11T17:30:00-04:00
End: 2026-07-11T19:00:00-04:00
Location: Lazaridis Hall, Tom Patterson Theatre

July 11 @ 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm

$39

A black and white photo collage of various jazz artists of the 1950s, with the words TAKE THE A-TRAIN... TO STRATFORD over the image in white.

Join us on July 11th for this exciting Stratford Festival event! Titled “Take the ‘A’ Train… to Stratford,” this conversation will feature IICSI Director Dr. Eric Fillion, musician and writer Melvin Gibbs, and journalist, producer, and Jazzcast co-founder Garvia Bailey!

These three will discuss the period from 1956 to 1958, when the Stratford Festival’s stages branched out beyond Shakespearean programming to host concerts by such legendary jazz figures as Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson and Billie Holiday. Why did these artists venture to Stratford? What what was the cultural significance of these concerts? What broader implications did these events have for the Canadian jazz scene? Come find out!

This Meighen Forum event will take place at 5:30 PM on Saturday, July 11th, in the Lazaridis Hall at Tom Patterson Theatre. Tickets for the event are $39, and available through the Stratford Festival website! This talk is generously supported by the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.