Nov 25, 2022 at 8pm
Nov 26, 2022 at 2pm
Tafelmusik Chamber Choir’s inaugural concerts of the season feature world premiere of work by Tawnie Olson
Toronto, October 26, 2022 … Choir Director Ivars Taurins leads Tafelmusik Chamber Choir in Reflections of Mary, its inaugural concerts of the 2022/23 season. The figure of the Virgin Mary is central to this program of choral music spanning more than three centuries, offering three composers’ meditations on the sacred icon of motherhood and mercy. Featuring music by Charpentier and Poulenc, along with the world premiere of a commission by Tawnie Olson, Reflections of Mary takes place on Nov 25, 2022 at 8pm and Nov 26, 2022 at 2pm at Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre. Tickets and information are available at tafelmusik.org.
“In this program, we take the sumptuous music of the 17th-century composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier with us into a musical hall of mirrors to meet the music of the 20th-century composer Francis Poulenc, who in turn looks back to the style and music of his predecessors,” says Ivars Taurins. We then angle the mirror to the present day, with a new commission by Canadian composer Tawnie Olson.”
Lustrous a cappella works by Poulenc are juxtaposed with the lyricism and expressive power of Charpentier’s final mass, Missa Assumpta est Maria, and other works of Marian devotion, including the baroque composer’s Salve regina à 3 choeurs and Regina Caeli. Tawnie Olson, whose music is described as “especially glorious and ethereal” (The Wholenote), brings this musical reflection into the present day with Salve Mater, a setting of a new Marian text.
“Considering how important she is to Christianity, it is surprising how little information the New Testament provides about the Blessed Virgin Mary,” says Tawnie Olson. “In setting a new text adapted from the Salve Regina, I tried to honour this first-century Jewish woman in a way that rings true to my understanding of her character and story, and to my own faith and beliefs.”
LISTING INFORMATION:
Reflections of Mary
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir
Ivars Taurins, director
Nov 25, 2022 at 8pm
Nov 26, 2022 at 2pm
Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre
Tickets start at $25 and are available at tafelmusik.org
Tafelmusik gratefully acknowledges the support of BMO, Presenting Sponsor of the 2022/23 concert season, and of our government partners, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, and the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and of our Media Partner The New Classical 96.3 FM.
ABOUT TAWNIE OLSON
Described as “taut, focused… colourful” by Gramophone, “mesmerizing,” by critic Tim Smith, the music of Canadian composer Tawnie Olson draws inspiration from politics, spirituality, the natural world, and the musicians for whom she composes. Her opera Sanctuary and Storm (libretto by Roberta Barker) is the winner of the 2021-2023 National Opera Association Dominick Argento Chamber Opera Competition. Olson is also the winner of the 2018 Barlow Prize, a consortium commission for the BYU Singers, The Crossing, and Seraphic Fire, and of a 2019 Copland House Residency Award. She was the Composer-in-Residence of the 2018 Women Composers Festival of Hartford. Her scores are available from the Canadian Music Centre, E.C. Schirmer, Galaxy Music, Hal Leonard’s BandQuest and Mark Foster series, and Oxford University Press.
Olson holds a doctorate in music composition from the University of Toronto, a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music, an Artist Diploma from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Calgary.
ABOUT TAFELMUSIK
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 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.
Website: tafelmusik.org
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Media contact: Luisa Trisi, Big Picture Communications
luisa@luisatrisi.com | 427 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M5S 1X7