With special lecture by Ignanio Varchausky starting at 8 pm, featuring Eva Wolff on Bandoneon and dancers Tarek Marroushi and Estie Spivakov
Friday, October 23, 2026 – 8pm – PWYW
Unitarian Congregation in Mississauga – 84 S Service Rd
As part of the first Tango for Today Symposium, the Chamber Music Society of Mississauga presents Tango for Today: The Small Ensembles, an evening exploring the vitality, history, and evolving language of tango.
The program features a lecture by renowned tango producer and musician Ignacio Varchausky, followed by a concert by Solidaridad Tango, featuring visinting bandoneon player Eva Wolff, with dancers Tarek Marroushi and Estie Spivakov.
Founded in 2021 by Aparna Halpé, Solidaridad Tango is North America’s original all-woman, diversity-affirming tango ensemble. The group creates fair work, professional development, and performance opportunities for women tango musicians, while championing new music by women composers and arrangers from around the world.
At the heart of Solidaridad’s work is a deep respect for tango tradition combined with a forward-looking creative spirit. Their performances bring new repertoire to life through a historically informed style that keeps the old alive in the new.
Since its founding, Solidaridad Tango has quickly established itself on national and international stages. Following sold-out tours, the ensemble became the first Canadian group invited to participate in the Tango Buenos Aires Festival y Mundial in 2025, the world’s largest and oldest tango festival.
Their debut album, DISTANCIA (2023), received nominations for New/Emerging Artist and Best Instrumental Album at the 20th Anniversary edition of the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Their forthcoming 2026 album, On the TTC with Troilo, featuring original music for dancing by Aparna Halpé, will be produced by Latin Grammy-winning producer Ignacio Varchausky.
Together with dancers Tarek Marroushi and Estie Spivakov, this Signature Series event offers a rare opportunity to experience tango as both a living musical tradition and an evolving contemporary art form.
“Solidaridad’s ‘Toronto’ tangos are perfect!”
The WholeNote Magazine
“Packed with passion, oozing with originality, and played with perfection…”
Songlines
Join us for an evening of ideas, history, movement, and music as tango is examined, discussed, and brought vividly to life.
With thanks to the City of Mississauga and Ontario Creates for their generous support of the CMSM Signature Series.
Ignacio Varchausky
Double Bass
Bassist Ignacio Varchausky is the creator and artistic director of the Orquesta Escuela de Tango Emilio Balcarce which was founded in 2000 and is funded by the Ministry of Culture of Buenos Aires. For over 25 years, Varchausky has taught and lectured worldwide, including at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Edgar Varese Conservatoire in Gennevilliers, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, CODARTS University of the Arts in Rotterdam, University of London, Americas Society in New York, Ibero-American Institute in Berlin, and Reed College in Portland. His seminar Los Estilos Fundamentales del Tango (The Esse ntial Styles of Tango) has engaged tens of thousands of tango musicians, dancers, and aficionados worldwide, and his own platform (www.ignaciovarchausky.com) features a series of online courses on tango’s primary orchestral styles, providing an extensive and innovative resource for musicians, dancers, and tango enthusiasts worldwide. Varchausky authored The Bass in Tango (2018) and is currently working on a new book about tango styles. His article “Orchestral Rhythmic Designs and Performance Practices: Juan D’Arienzo and Aníbal Troilo” was recently published in The Cambridge Companion to Tango (2024) and he was featured in PBS’s Now Hear This series.
As a producer, Varchausky has contributed to more than 50 records. His work has been nominated for multiple Latin Grammys in the Tango category which he won for the album 20 Años—En Vivo en Café Vinilo. He has also served as artistic director for tango festivals across the globe, with performances at the Hong Kong Cultural Center, Teatro Mayor in Bogotá, and Parco della Musica in Rome, among others. He is the founder of Orquesta El Arranque, with whom he has recorded 12 albums and toured 300 cities across the USA, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. He has performed at prestigious venues such as Lincoln Center in New York alongside Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.
Based in Buenos Aires, Varchausky travels the world performing, teaching, and lecturing about tango music, sharing his expertise in both academic and popular settings, while making a lasting impact on the music and culture of tango both locally and globally.
Eva Wolff
Bandoneon
Eva Wolff was born in Ghent, Belgium in 1978. At the age of 15, she started studying bandoneón at Codarts, the Rotterdam Conservatory, under the guidance of Leo Vervelde. She graduated in 2001. In the same year she won a scholarship granted by the Netherlands, which permitted her to live and study for one year in Buenos Aires as a student at the Orquesta Escuela de Tango Emilio Balcarce directed by Emilio Balcarce himself.
She has been living and working in Buenos Aires ever since.
Eva has performed and toured extensively as a soloist and member of the Duo Wolff Possetti. She was a member of the cast of Boulevard Tango, Sonia Possetti Quinteto, the Orquesta Típica Sans Souci, and has performed as a soloist with the Orquesta del Tango de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Eva was part of the Sexteto Canyengue, directed by Carel Kraayenhof, with whom she recorded “Tango Máxima” and “Tango Royal”. With Sexteto Canyengue and the Compañía Tangueros, she traveled to the United States, Italy, Turkey, and Germany among other countries.
Eva is the author of the book The Bandoneon in Tango, published by Tango sin Fin Editions in 2018. She is a teacher at the Escuela de Música Popular de Avellaneda, as well at the Escuela de Música Juan Pedro Esnaola. Since 2024, Eva has taught the online course “The Bandoneon in Tango”, with students participating from Argentina, Columbia, United States, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany.
Tarek Marroushi & Estie Spivakov
Dancers
Tarek Marroushi is a world-renowned tango dancer based in Gravenhurst, Ontario. Tarek runs studio Tango Pi in Richmond Hill, where he has taught generations of dancers from all across the GTA. Tarek is an adjudicator for the World of Dance Classic championships in Argentine Tango, and he is the organizer of the hugely popular Toronto Spring Tango Marathon at Toronto’s historic Palais Royale, an event that gathers over 300 local and international tango dancers to Toronto. Tarek regularly collaborates with professional tango dancer and yoga instructor, Estie Spivakov.