The opera house’s Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre presents a series of noon- and happy-hour events, showcasing both young and established artists in a wide spectrum of music styles. Classical performances include graduating artists of the current Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio in a concert of their favourite arias and ensembles, May 1; COC harpist Sanya Eng in a performance of R. Murray Schafer’s The Crown of Ariadne, May 8; Fluterra—two flutes and piano—in a program titled Silver, Black and White, May 15; pianists Andrea Grant and Mia Bach, exploring the history of opera before the dawn of the recording age, May 20; a concert investigating extended piano techniques, including Henry Cowell’s seminal work The Banshee, Alexina Louie’s Scenes from a Jade Terrace and Frederic Rzewski’s Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues, May 21; operatic theatre and chamber music by Njo Kong Kie, including excerpts from Knotty Together and Shattered Glass, May 22; cellist Soohyun Nam and pianist Bryan Wagorn in a concert of probing works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, May 27; and the lower brass players of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, with double bassist Hilda Cowie and pianist Peter Longworth, in solos and chamber music from the 14th through 21st centuries, May 28.—Rick MacMillan