A Tafelmusik Tribute to Jeanne Lamon

Join Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir for this special tribute concert honouring Music Director Emerita Jeanne Lamon (1949–2021)

A deeply personal musical homage to Jeanne Lamon, curated by her partner Christina Mahler and friend and colleague Alison Mackay.

Narrated by one of Canada’s foremost stage actors, R.H. Thomson, and enriched with projected images, this multimedia program traces the trajectory of Jeanne’s inspiring life, including her youth in New York State, her student years in Boston and Amsterdam, her decades in Toronto, and her final chapter in Victoria. Jeanne’s outstanding leadership, passionate dedication to artist training, and commitment to the values of collaboration, inclusion, and artistic excellence—qualities that have touched the lives of so many—are the guiding principles that have inspired this celebration of her life.    

At the heart of our tribute is the music that resonated with Jeanne most profoundly. From Bach, whose compositions were part of the daily ritual that infused her childhood, to a movement from Telemann’s Tafelmusik, the first piece she ever directed with the orchestra, the music most beloved by Jeanne will serve to honour her memory and celebrate her towering influence.

Jeanne’s partner and former Tafelmusik principal cellist, Christina Mahler, and baritone Brett Polegato, join the orchestra and choir for this tribute.

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.