Live performance April 2, 2pm
Digital concert premieres June 2, 8pm
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra directed by Julia Wedman
Tafelmusik Chamber Choir directed by Ivars Taurins
R.H. Thomson, narrator
Brett Polegato, baritone
Created by Alison Mackay & Christina Mahler
Barbara Willis Sweete, film director
Toronto, February 16, 2022 … Tafelmusik has unveiled further details about a special live tribute concert honouring Music Director Emerita Jeanne Lamon, C.M. O.Ont., who passed away in June 2021. This deeply personal musical homage is co-created by friend and colleague Alison Mackay, together with Jeanne’s partner and former Tafelmusik principal cellist Christina Mahler, who will return to perform with the orchestra directed by Julia Wedman. Joining them are guest soloist Brett Polegato, baritone; actor R.H. Thomson, narrator; and Tafelmusik Chamber Choir directed by Ivars Taurins.
The live concert takes place on Saturday, April 2 at 2pm at Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre in Toronto, with a digital concert premiering June 2 at 8pm. This event replaces the previously scheduled digital concert, Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
Tickets for both the live and digital versions of the concert go on sale February 24, 2022 at 11am.Tafelmusik Digital Season Passholders will receive a presale window for the live performance two days in advance of the public on-sale date. Please note that the live performance will be filmed and may have some obstructed seats due to camera crews.
Woven together with text by Alison Mackay and enhanced by projected images and lighting design, the program traces the trajectory of Jeanne’s inspiring life, including her student years in Boston and Amsterdam, her decades in Toronto, and her final chapter in Victoria. The award-winning Canadian filmmaker Barbara Willis Sweete will direct the film version of the concert, to be broadcast online on June 2. Willis Sweete first collaborated with Tafelmusik on the 1995 Rhombus Media adaptation of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, conceived and choreographed by Mark Morris, and featuring the Mark Morris Dance Group.
At the heart of the tribute program is the orchestral and choral music that resonated with Jeanne most profoundly. Featured prominently is the music of Bach, an integral part of Jeanne’s life from childhood through to her final days, while works by Venetian baroque composers Benedetto Marcello and Salamone Rossi honour her Jewish roots. A movement from Telemann’s Tafelmusik, the first piece Jeanne ever directed with the orchestra, is paired with selections by Vivaldi, Monteverdi, Lully, and Handel—composers who were among Jeanne’s favourites.
Full program
Vivaldi Concerto for 2 violins in A Major, op. 3, no. 5: Allegro
Julia Wedman and Christina Zacharias, violins
Monteverdi Beatus vir, excerpted
Tafelmusik Chamber Choir
S. Rossi Sinfonia undecimal
Shir hamma‛allot. ’Ashrei kol yere ’adonai (Psalm 128)
Tafelmusik Chamber Choir
Marcello O immacolata e pura (Psalm 19)
Brett Polegato, baritone
Bach French Suite no. 4, BWV 815: Allemande
Charlotte Nediger, harpsichord
Concerto for 3 violins in D, after BWV 1064: I. Allegro
Julia Wedman, Geneviève Gilardeau, & Cristina Zacharias, violins
Telemann Tafelmusik Book III: Conclusion
Lully Passacaille from Armide
Handel Concerto grosso in D Major, op. 6, no. 5: V. Allegro
Bach Erbarme dich, from St Matthew Passion, arranged
Julia Wedman, violin; Marco Cera, oboe d’amore
Mein teuer Heiland from St John Passion
Brett Polgeato, baritone; Tafelmusik Chamber Choir
Cantata 170 Vergnügte Ruh, arranged
John Abberger, oboe
Sinfonia to BWV 249a, arranged
LISTING INFORMATION: A Tafelmusik Tribute to Jeanne Lamon
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra directed by Julia Wedman
Tafelmusik Chamber Choir directed by Ivars Taurins
R.H. Thomson, narrator
Brett Polegato, baritone
Created by Christina Mahler and Alison Mackay
Barbara Willis Sweete, film director
Saturday, April 2 at 2pm Live concert
Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre
427 Bloor Street West
Tafelmusik Digital Season Passholders receive a presale for live concert ticket sales two days in advance of the public.
Please note that the live performance will be filmed and may have some obstructed seats due to camera crews.
June 2, 2022 at 8pm Digital concert
Available now by purchasing a Digital Season Pass
Single tickets for the live and digital versions of the concert go on sale at tafelmusik.org
February 24, 2022 at 11am.Tafelmusik Digital Season Passholders receive a presale window for the live performance two days in advance of the public on-sale date.
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.
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.
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