The Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (also known simply as Tafelmusik) is a Canadian orchestra specializing in historically-informed performance and based in Toronto. The orchestra plays period instruments appropriate to the era of music, including baroque, classical and romantic eras. [1]
The orchestra was founded in 1979 by oboist Kenneth Solway and bassoonist Susan Graves. Violinist Jeanne Lamon served as Music Director from 1981 to 2014. An Artistic Committee composed of three orchestra musicians assumed artistic leadership until the appointment of Italian violinist Elisa Citterio as Music Director in 2017. [2] Lamon held the title of Chief Artistic Advisor until 2015, and continued to perform with the orchestra in a reduced capacity until her death from lung cancer in 2021. Citterio departed in early 2022, returning to her native Italy amidst a global pandemic. In spring 2022, Tafelmusik's Board of Directors appointed three core orchestra musicians as Artistic Co-Directors, Brandon Chui, Dominic Teresi and Cristina Zacharias. Rachel Podger joins the artistic team in Fall 2024 as Principal Guest Director. [3]
The orchestra has sixteen full-time members who specialize in historical performance and technique, with additional musicians joining the ensemble when required.
The Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, under the direction of Ivars Taurins, [4] was formed in 1981 to complement the orchestra.
Tafelmusik performs over 50 concerts for its subscription season at Jeanne Lamon Hall in Trinity-St. Paul's United Church, a historic church in the Annex neighbourhood of Toronto, and at Koerner Hall, TELUS Centre for the Performing Arts, Royal Conservatory of Music. They also collaborate with Opera Atelier each season at the Elgin Theatre in downtown Toronto. Tafelmusik's annual Sing Along Messiah is traditionally held at Massey Hall.
The orchestra has toured in 350 cities in 32 countries,touring regularly across Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. [5] From 1993 to 2011, Tafelmusik was orchestra in residence at the German Klang und Raum Festival in the small village of Irsee in Bavaria.
In 2002 the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute was created to provide pre-professional and professional musicians with a unique training programme in instrumental and vocal baroque performance practice. The institute is a two-week program consisting of masterclasses, private lessons, orchestral and choral rehearsals, chamber ensemble work, lectures and seminars, and baroque dance classes.
The orchestra also performs at times without sheet music and has offered insightful multimedia shows shining a light on various historical topics and making interesting connections. Notable projects include The Galileo Project, House of Dreams, Circle of Creation and Tales of Two Cities. [6] [7] [5]
The orchestra's recordings have also received the following awards:
The orchestra has made over 80 recordings, DVDs and CDs. Some are to be found in Sony Classical's Vivarte series, Analekta and CBC Records. Tafelmusik launched the independent label Tafelmusik Media in January 2012.
The recordings include:
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra (TSYO). The TSO's most recent music director was Peter Oundjian, from 2004 to 2018. Sir Andrew Davis, conductor laureate of the TSO, has most recently served as the orchestra's interim artistic director. Gustavo Gimeno is music director of the TSO, since the 2020–2021 season.
Trevor David Pinnock is a British harpsichordist and conductor.
Hendrik "Henk" Bouman is a Dutch harpsichordist, fortepianist, conductor and composer of music written in the baroque and classical idioms of the 17th and 18th century.
James Ehnes, is a Canadian concert violinist and violist.
In Canada, classical music includes a range of musical styles rooted in the traditions of Western or European classical music that European settlers brought to the country from the 17th century and onwards. As well, it includes musical styles brought by other ethnic communities from the 19th century and onwards, such as Indian classical music and Chinese classical music. Since Canada's emergence as a nation in 1867, the country has produced its own composers, musicians and ensembles. As well, it has developed a music infrastructure that includes training institutions, conservatories, performance halls, and a public radio broadcaster, CBC, which programs a moderate amount of Classical music. There is a high level of public interest in classical music and education.
Masaaki Suzuki is a Japanese organist, harpsichordist and conductor, and the founder and music director of the Bach Collegium Japan. With this ensemble he is recording the complete choral works of Johann Sebastian Bach for the Swedish label BIS Records, for which he is also recording Bach's concertos, orchestral suites, and solo works for harpsichord and organ. He is also an artist-in-residence at Yale University and the principal guest conductor of its Schola Cantorum, and has conducted orchestras and choruses around the world.
The Juno Award for "Classical Album of the Year" has been awarded since 1994, as recognition each year for the best vocal classical music album in Canada.
The Juno Award for "Classical Album of the Year" for ensembles has been awarded since 1985, as recognition each year for the best classical music album in Canada.
Jeanne Lamon, was an American-Canadian violinist and conductor.
Concentus Musicus Wien (CMW) is an Austrian baroque music ensemble based in Vienna. The CMW is recognized as a pioneer of the period-instrument performance movement.
The Juno Awards of 1999 honouring Canadian music industry achievements were held in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The primary ceremonies at Copps Coliseum on 7 March 1999 were broadcast by CBC Television and hosted by Mike Bullard.
Geoffrey Lancaster is an Australian classical pianist and conductor. Born in Sydney, he was raised in Dubbo, New South Wales before moving to Canberra. He attended the Canberra School of Music where he studied piano with Larry Sitsky. He also studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy, and also completed a master's degree at the University of Tasmania. In 1984, he moved to Amsterdam to study fortepiano with Stanley Hoogland at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. In 1996 he was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London, following which he worked at the School of Music at the University of Western Australia. He was a professor of the ANU School of Music from 2000 until 2012. Now based in Perth, he is Professor of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts at Edith Cowan University.
Daniel John Taylor, is a Canadian countertenor, conductor and early music specialist. Taylor directs the Trinity Choir, the Theatre of Early Music and is Professor of Opera, Voice and Early Music at the University of Toronto.
Suzie LeBlanc is a Canadian soprano and early music specialist. She taught at McGill University from 2016 to 2020 and became the Artistic and Executive Director of Early Music Vancouver in 2021. She was named a member of the Order of Canada in 2014 for her contributions to music and Acadian culture.
Boston Baroque is the oldest period instrument orchestra in North America. It was founded in 1973 by the American harpsichordist and conductor, Martin Pearlman, to present concerts of the Baroque and Classical repertoire on period instruments, drawing on the insights of the historical performance movement.
Monica Huggett is a British conductor and leading baroque violinist.
Bruno Weil is a German symphonic conductor. He is principal guest conductor of Tafelmusik, the period-instrument group based in Toronto, Music Director of the Carmel Bach Festival in California, and artistic director of the period-instrument festival "Klang und Raum" in Irsee, Bavaria. He has served as General Music Director of Augsburg (1981–1989), and of Duisburg (1989–2002). He currently serves as Professor of Conducting at the State Academy for Music and Theater in Munich.
Peter Butterfield is a Canadian conductor and classical tenor. In 2003 he founded the VancouverVoices and since 2009 he has been the director of the Victoria Philharmonic Choir. As a singer he has performed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America; working primarily as a concert singer since the early 1980s. He has also appeared on radio and television programs in Canada, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Claire Guimond is a Canadian flute player, founding member and former Artistic Director of Arion Baroque Orchestra.
Arion Baroque Orchestra, founded in 1981, is a Canadian baroque orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, specializing in music of the 18th century performed on period instruments.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
