Hearing Her Voice

Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre

**In her eagerly anticipated return to Tafelmusik, the “jaw-dropping” (Boston Classical Review) soprano Amanda Forsythe gives voice to the powerful stories and perspectives of women**

The program features distinctive characters including Cleopatra, Judith, Alcina, Serpina, and Mitilene from operas, oratorios, and cantatas by Handel, Pergolesi, Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Telemann, and more.

Following our 2023 collaboration with the Art Gallery of Ontario’s exhibition Making Her Mark, our program focuses the spotlight on music by Jacquet de la Guerre’s contemporaries including gems by Camilla de Rossi, Mrs. Philharmonica, Maria Grimani, and Antonia Bembo.

Another source of historical female inspiration is virtuoso violinist Anna Maria della Pietà. The orphan protegée inspired Vivaldi to write extraordinary concertos dedicated to her among the many compositions he wrote for the acclaimed all-female orchestra of the Ospedale della Pieta, a home for abandoned children in baroque Venice.

Our celebration of female perspective and talent extends into the 21st century with a newly commissioned work by Métis composer Karen Sunabacka, set to text by her mother, the Métis writer Joyce Clouston. Known for her powerfully evocative music, “Sunabacka creates a brilliant sense of space” and “displays an incredibly in-depth knowledge of instrumental technique” (I Care if you Listen).

Guest Artists

Credits & Program

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Running Time

120 minutes

Style of Music

Baroque vocal, orchestral

Guest artists

Amanda Forsythe

Soprano

American soprano Amanda Forsythe, warmly praised for her performances on both sides of the Atlantic, is a regular soloist with the highly acclaimed baroque ensembles Les Talens Lyriques, Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, Boston Early Music Festival, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, Tafelmusik, Apollo’s Fire, Opera Prima, Pacific Musicworks, Early Music Vancouver, and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra.

The 2024/25 season finds her performing with Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Victoria Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Boston Baroque, and appearances at the Tucson Baroque Festival and Boston Early Music Festival. Recent engagements have included performances with the Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic. Opera engagements have included major roles in the houses of Geneva, Munich, Philadelphia, Rome, Seattle, Berlin, and Pesaro.

Her extensive discography includes the role of Eurydice on the GRAMMY-winning recording of Charpentier La descente d’Orphée aus enfers, a solo album of Handel arias The Power of Love (Apollo’s Fire), and as featured soloist in Tafelmusik’s upcoming release of arias from Handel oratorios.

Performers

Amanda Forsythe soprano
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra

Program

Selections from operas and cantatas by Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, Camilla de Rossi, Mrs. Philharmonica, Maria Grimani, Handel, Pergolesi, Telemann, including characters Cleopatra, Serpina, Alcina, Mitelene, Agrippina, Queen of Sheba
Premiere performance of new composition by Métis composer Karen Sunabacka with text by Joyce Clouston