New digital concert launches 2021/22 season
Conceived & programmed by Marco Cera
Scripted by Marco Cera & Nicholas Wallace
Stage direction by Ryan Joyce
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
Directed by Elisa Citterio
Nicholas Wallace, magician
Quinten Melo, contortionist
Toronto, October 8, 2021 … Tafelmusik launches its 2021/22 season with Music & Magic, a mesmerizing digital show that blends two captivating art forms to create a world of illusion and enchantment. Conceived and programmed by Tafelmusik oboist and visual artist Marco Cera, who co-scripted the show with award-winning magician Nicholas Wallace (America’s Got Talent, Penn and Teller: Fool Us, Houdini & Doyle’s World of Wonders), the film features music by Bach, Handel, Purcell, and Vivaldi, and includes compelling magic vignettes by Wallace and a performance by contortionist Quinten Melo. Stage direction is by magician and digital media producer Ryan Joyce. Music & Magic premieres online on October 28, 2021, at 8pm EDT. On demand access for 12 months via Digital Pass and limited access for up to one week with single tickets are available at tafelmusik.org. Tafelmusik is pleased to share that BMO is the 2021/22 Season Presenting Sponsor.
Inspired by his lifelong fascination with magicians, Cera first made the connection between music and magic in 2018 while doing research for his Tafelmusik multimedia program, The Harlequin Salon. “Musicians and magicians may use different tools to create their art, but for both, the goal is to delight, spark our imaginations, and create startling moments of intense emotion,” says Cera.
Music & Magic delves into the world of 18th-century English conjurer Isaac Fawkes, a contemporary of Handel. The first magician to take his act from the streets of London to the stage, Fawkes performed before King George II at the Haymarket Theatre — the same venue where Handel presented his operas for royalty and the public alike.
One of the trends to emerge from the pandemic is the huge popularity of online magic shows, which have attracted new audiences “in a way not seen since the ‘Golden Age of Magic’ in the 1920s, when stars like Dante, Thurston, Carter the Great, Dai Vernon, and most of all, Harry Houdini, were household names” (Forbes).
“The pandemic has shaken confidence in our fundamental assumptions about how daily life is supposed to unfold,” says Wallace. “A magic show is a safe place to play with those assumptions. It’s a tacit agreement that an audience and a magician make: you know this isn’t real, and I know this isn’t real, but let’s just play for the next 30 minutes — unlike in the real world, where it’s not a good feeling to have your assumptions rocked.”
As part of the process of creative collaboration, Cera and Wallace explored parallels between the two art forms, including the manual dexterity required to master both musical instruments and sleight of hand, the discipline that is fundamental to the art of creating illusions; the inherent perfectionism and many hours of practising required to make the most difficult sequences or passages appear effortless; and the ability to create authentic moments of awe and wonder that arouse the senses.
Listing Information:
Tafelmusik presents Music & Magic
Digital concert premiering October 28, 2021, 8pm EDT Online
Digital Passes and single tickets available at tafelmusik.org
Conceived & programmed by Marco Cera
Scripted by Marco Cera & Nicholas Wallace
Stage direction by Ryan Joyce
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
Directed by Elisa Citterio
Nicholas Wallace, magician
Quinten Melo, contortionist
Program:
Henry Purcell Excerpts from The Fairy Queen
Antonio Vivaldi Concerto for violin in E Major: Spring (from The Four Seasons)
George Frideric Handel Aria “What passion cannot music raise or quell” from Ode for St Cecilia’s Day (arranged)
Johann Sebastian Bach Andante, from Sonata for solo violin in A Minor
G.F. Handel Overtures to Flavio & Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day
Tafelmusik gratefully acknowledges the support of BMO, Presenting Sponsor of the 2021/22 Concert season, and our government partners, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, and the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Website: tafelmusik.org
Social media: Join the conversation on Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Spotify
ABOUT TAFELMUSIK
Led by Music Director Elisa Citterio and Executive Director Carol Kehoe, Tafelmusik is an orchestra, choir, and experience that celebrates beauty through music of the past.
Founded over 40 years ago on the pillars of passion, learning, and artistic excellence, Tafelmusik continues to bring new energy to baroque music and beyond. Historically informed performances of 17th- to 19th-century instrumental and choral music (led by Chamber Choir Director Ivars Taurins) share the stage with vibrant, insightful multimedia programs, and bold new music written just for the group. Each piece is played on period instruments, underscored and illuminated by scholarship.
Through dynamic performances, international touring, award-winning recordings, and comprehensive education programs, Tafelmusik invites audiences to engage with beauty and experience the breadth of emotion music can inspire.
Media contact:
Luisa Trisi, Big Picture Communications, (416) 456-0499
luisa@luisatrisi.com | 427 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M5S 1X7