Alan Cross

For more than four decades, Alan Cross has made a career out of asking questions about music that most listeners never thought to ask.

Best known as the host of The Ongoing History of New Music, Cross has spent more than 30 years exploring the artists, movements, technology, business and wonderfully obscure stories surrounding rock and alternative music. The Canadian broadcaster, writer and music historian began his radio career in Manitoba before joining Toronto's influential CFNY in 1986, later working as an on-air host, program director, author, columnist and speaker.

On November 14, Cross makes his FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre debut with an intimate evening in the Recital Hall devoted to the decidedly less respectable side of music history.

Murder, mob involvement, questionable backstage dealings, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll are all on the itinerary as Cross digs into stories of bad behaviour from across the music industry — along with the tangents and rabbit holes familiar to longtime listeners of his broadcasts.

For fans who know Cross primarily as the voice behind The Ongoing History of New Music, the evening offers an opportunity to experience that combination of research, musical history, curiosity and storytelling live and in person.

Saturday, November 14, 2026 at 7:00 p.m.
Recital Hall — FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre

Member tickets from $36; regular tickets from $40.

Presented by FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.
Sponsored by DJB Human Resources Advisory.