INSTITUT is a new underground cultural speakeasy living in the basement auditorium of St. Volodymyr Institute at 620 Spadina Avenue — a space that has always been there, right underneath, below generations of students, archivists, curators, and librarians. In its pilot phase (May–September 2026), it runs every Thursday from 5pm until late, featuring music, cinema, literature, and art. Ukrainian and beyond.
We are instituting the PWYC (pay-what-you-can) model — which basically means RSVP ASAP, because it's gonna fill up.
This is the first set in VOLUME 2 of the INSTITUT experiment. Every week, a different hypothesis. Underground at 620 Spadina Ave - around the back, through the lot to the steel doors, down the stairs, past the mechanical room, through the swinging wood laminate door...
INSTITUT 002 residency: KRYVA KOSA FOLK BAND
Open acoustic “rehearsal” of Balkan, Baltic & Slavic village folk for dance; simple songs to learn, easy listening for curious types.
Traditional balkan, baltic, and slavic village folk music for dance in an open acoustic "rehearsal" format; easy to learn songs for curious musicians; easy to absorb listening for thirsty conversationalists.
KRYVA KOSA is a collective of musicians & artists who are here to share the folk music
traditions from their diverse backgrounds. They play live music, teach folk dances at upbeat public socials, and create interactive spaces for musical exchange and learning.
"Kryva Kosa" means "crooked scythe" in Ukrainian. Join them to experience timeless village folk melodies from Ukraine and neighbouring Slavic, Baltic, Balkan & Finno-Ugric cultures of Europe.
They have performed and taught at the Bloor West Village Ukrainian Festival, Drom Taberna, Kosa Folk Arts Melanka and recently finished a four month residency at Hart House UofT.
INSTITUT 002 concert: TYMISH KOZNARSKY TRIO & CARLO MUSCAT
Malta-born saxophonist bridging the high-stakes creativity of contemporary, wartime Kyiv with European jazz; openning set by vibey jazz trio
One of them is a Canadian-born music school student figuring out the intersection of his passion and his roots. The other is a bit of an internationalist with European leanings and Latin fascination living on the front lines of the war from democracy and western values. Both are Ukrainian Jazz.
This is the bulk of the night in VOLUME 2 of the INSTITUT experiment. Every week, a different hypothesis. Underground at 620 Spadina Ave - around the back, through the lot to the steel doors, down the stairs, past the mechanical room, through the swinging wood laminate door
TYMISH KOZNARSKY is an award-winning jazz saxophonist hailing from Toronto, Canada. He frequently performs at venues such as the Jazz Bistro, the Rex Jazz and Blues Bar, and the Jazz Room, both as a sideman and bandleader of the Tymish Koznarsky Quintet. Tymish has collaborated, recorded, and studied with internationally acclaimed artists, including Kirk Macdonald, Harold Mabern, Terri Lyne Carrington, Kiya Tabassian, Lorne Lofsky, Babak Amini, and Pat LaBarbera, while also being a featured soloist on Caity Gyorgy’s Juno award-winning album “Featuring and Juno nominated project “Lemon Tree” by Ale Nuñez. He is Currently one of many musicians that perform as a part of Davies Studios projects “Listening Room,” “Marmalade,” “Neo,” and “Blues.”
CARLO MUSCAT began his musical education at the age of eight. A few years later, he picked up the saxophone and started to discover a love for jazz music. During the early years of his career, he made a name for himself through local performances in Malta before beginning to collaborate with renowned local and international musicians. In 2013, he moved to Paris, France, where he had the opportunity to explore the scene and learn from other musicians, both by listening to and collaborating with them. The Parisian scene led to the recording of his first album, 'The Sound Catalogues', which stemmed from an earlier project at the 2012 Malta Jazz Festival. During this period, he continued working on new compositions for recordings and furthering his collaborations. Carlo has performed a number of concerts around Europe, including in Paris, London, Istanbul, Milan, Berlin, Kyiv, and Rotterdam. He now has five albums under his name as a leader and will be releasing his sixth album in 2023; he also appears on another five albums as a sideman. He describes his musical journey as a process that is ceaseless and expressive, allowing for freedom of interpretation. He is known for his fresh take on the genre and his unabashed use of improvisation, making the tunes of his compositions markedly his own.
INSTITUT 002 vintage vinyl: MIRA MELA