Exploring Tiny Sun: A Cinematic Collaboration Between Diverse Musical Talents at Koerner Hall
- Ashley Depaz
- May 17
- 3 min read
By: Ashley Depaz
Toronto, Ontario - On Thursday May 14th 2026, the glowing wood interior of Koerner Hall became a living, breathing instrument. The acoustics inside Koerner Hall (already regarded as some of the finest in Canada) wrapped around every note with startling clarity, allowing even the quietest moments to linger in the air like suspended light. Every string swell, every soft vocal tremble, every ambient texture carried through the room with pristine warmth. It was the kind of night where silence between songs felt just as important as the music itself.
The evening centered around Tiny Sun, the collaborative project between Dragonette, Don Rooke, and Jonathan Goldsmith, three artists from remarkably different musical worlds who somehow met in the middle to create something cinematic, experimental, and deeply human.
Dragonette, known globally for her sleek synth-pop and electro-dance catalogue, brought a melodic accessibility and emotional softness to the project. Don Rooke, celebrated for his atmospheric guitar work and experimental compositions, contributed an earthy, textured depth rooted in ambient folk and modern classical influences. Jonathan Goldsmith, an award-winning composer and producer whose resume spans film scoring and orchestral arrangements, acted almost like the architectural glue holding the project together.
Together, the trio created Tiny Sun. A collection of 18 miniature “postcard” songs, many lasting over a minute long. Rather than traditional pop structures, the music unfolds like fleeting memories: delicate orchestral fragments, ambient folk passages, dreamlike harmonies, and cinematic soundscapes stitched together into brief emotional snapshots. The result feels somewhere between chamber pop, experimental folk, ambient orchestral music, and film score composition; intimate yet expansive all at once.
Performed live with orchestra inside Koerner Hall, those tiny compositions suddenly became enormous. The Tiny Sun setlist moved like chapters in a dream. Each piece arrived gently and disappeared almost as quickly, but that brevity became part of the magic. The orchestra transformed the songs into emotional brushstrokes; strings rising and collapsing like waves, subtle percussion echoing through the hall, and layered instrumentation creating a sense of movement that felt almost visual. Instead of demanding attention with spectacle, Tiny Sun invited the audience inward.
Then came one of the night’s fascinating transformations.
Dragonette shifted from the abstract world of Tiny Sun back into selections from her own catalogue… but reimagined entirely through orchestral arrangements. Songs originally rooted in synth-pop, dance-pop, and electro textures suddenly became something softer and far more cinematic. What once pulsed through clubs and festival speakers was now translated into elegant orchestral pop, proving how strong the song writing underneath truly is. The transition was seamless and surprisingly emotional.
Dragonette Setlist
Easy
Body 2 Body
T-Shirt
Alongside orchestral covers of:
Tokyo Nights (Digital Farm Animals cover)
Slow Song (The Knocks cover)
Hello (Martin Solveig cover)
Hearing songs associated with glossy electronic production stripped back and rebuilt with live strings, piano, and orchestral arrangements gave them entirely new identities. “Body 2 Body” traded neon energy for aching elegance. “Hello,” once a bright international dance anthem, became warm and theatrical inside Koerner Hall’s resonant acoustics. Even the audience seemed caught off guard by how naturally these electronic pop songs adapted into orchestral form.
What made the evening truly memorable, however, was how refreshingly unafraid it was to blend genres. Experimental folk, chamber music, ambient composition, synth-pop, dance-pop, and orchestral performance all coexisted without feeling forced. In an era where live music often leans heavily into predictability or spectacle, Tiny Sun and Dragonette delivered something far more meaningful: a reminder that music does not need boundaries to feel cohesive.
It simply needs honesty.
Tiny Sun Set List
Kerosene
Nobody
Fledgling
Great Lakes
A Grand Expanse
O Fathoms
Hieroglyphics
Vanishment
Berceuse
Imagined Love
Float On the Sea
Split The Sky
Goodbye
Every Kind of Cloud
Talk in Tongues
Silly Way
Far Away
Don't Fault the Stars for Falling
For one night in Toronto, under the warm acoustics of Koerner Hall, wildly different musical worlds collided beautifully — and the result felt like witnessing artists rediscover the emotional possibilities of sound itself.
Dragonette/Tiny Sun Photo Gallery (all photos by: Ashley Depaz)
Dragonette Online
Tiny Sun Online
Show Date: May 14, 2026
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