Now that the final notes of Tafelmusik’s 2025/26 Season have been played and our music stands have been packed away for the summer, we can’t resist the urge to sit back and reflect on an immensely successful year.
Curated by Artistic Co-Directors Brandon Chui, Dominic Teresi, and Cristina Zacharias, the 2025/26 Season included ten mainstage programs in Toronto, an extensive Western tour led by Principal Guest Director Rachel Podger, the release of a new recording featuring Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Choir directed by Ivars Taurins, and an array of education and community outreach concerts.
Of course, none of this would be possible without the support of our devoted subscribers, donors, and corporate supporters. We are extremely grateful for the support of BMO, our Season Presenting Sponsor for a fifth consecutive season. We also deeply appreciate the support of the Azrieli Foundation, Brookfield, and Power Corporation of Canada, along with the support of our government partners Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Arts Foundation, Toronto Arts Council, and the Province of Ontario.
A look back at highlights of the 2025/26 Season
Rachel Podger, Principal Guest Director
“Podger guided her colleagues to play with electrifying ensemble precision and drive.”
—The Strad
Following her inaugural season as Principal Guest Director, Tafelmusik welcomed back the “exquisite” (Washington Classical Review) British violinist Rachel Podger for three mainstage programs in 2025/26. Directing from the violin in “masterful and triumphant fashion” (Early Music America), Podger helmed Mozart 40 & Schubert 5, our season opener at Koerner Hall. In early 2026, she returned for “astonishing” (Barczablog) performances of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, along with the premiere of a new orchestral arrangement by Artistic Co-Director Dominic Teresi of Bach’s remarkable organ Prelude and Fugue in E-Flat Major, “St. Anne.” Ludwig van Toronto described Podger’s final Tafelmusik program of the season as “a great celebration of uninhibited joy and true collaboration.” Influencers: The Bachs, Mozart & Haydn explored the dynamic synergies between composers in performances at Jeanne Lamon Hall and George Weston Recital Hall.
We are delighted that Rachel Podger has extended her tenure as Tafelmusik’s Principal Guest Director for three years, through to the end of our 50thanniversary season in 2028/29. “Her leadership and communication with the entire group is natural, infectious, and inspiring” (Ludwig van Toronto).
Inspiring Guest Artists
Tafelmusik welcomed an array of world-renowned guest artists who joined the orchestra and choir at our mainstage spaces at Jeanne Lamon Hall and Koerner Hall.
Spanish violinist Lina Tur Bonet returned for Vivaldi’s World, a high-octane program of music by Geminiani, Zelenka, Albicastro, and the Red Priest himself, bringing houses to their feet in Toronto as well as at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre.
Period ensemble Juilliard415 joined us for Rameau and the Art of Dance, a program of French baroque dance music by Marais, Rebel, and Rameau. Directed by Robert Mealy, violinist and head of Juilliard’s distinguished Historical Performance program, the program was brought to life through choreographies by renowned baroque dancers Caroline Copeland and Julian Donahue.
The Grammy Award–winning soprano Amanda Forsythe returned for Hearing her Voice, beautifully co-directed by Tafelmusik violinists Patricia Ahern, Johanna Novom, Julia Wedman, and Cristina Zacharias. Celebrating unjustly forgotten women composers, the program included music by Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Barbara Strozzi, Mlle Duval, Mlle Laurant, Wilhelmine von Bayreuth, Maria Teresa Agnesi, Maria Margherita Grimani, and the enigmatic Mrs Philarmonica. A highlight of the program was nitatisipwētānān: We are leaving, a newly commissioned work by Métis composer Karen Sunabacka, set to text by her mother, the Métis writer Joyce Clouston.
In a preview article for The Strad, violinist and Artistic Co-Director Cristina Zacharias reflected on the formative impact of pioneering female leadership at Tafelmusik, observing how that legacy continues through “shared authority, equity, and the rediscovery of women composers” through programs like Hearing her Voice.
The renowned Japanese violinist Shunske Sato made his Tafelmusik debut with Beethoven & Bologne: The Winds of Change. Leading Beethoven’s revolutionary Symphony no. 3 “Eroica” from the violin, Sato was also featured in the stunning Violin Concerto op. 3, no. 2 by the influential Black 18th-century composer Joseph Bologne, bringing our 2025/26 season to a close at Koerner Hall. “The immensely gifted Sato harnessed the energy of all of the compositions in the program to create a lustrous dynamism, which stimulated the orchestra to heights of musical creativity” (Ludwig van Toronto).
Tafelmusik Chamber Choir
Under the direction of celebrated Choir Director Ivars Taurins, the superb Tafelmusik Chamber Choir joined the orchestra in Double Dixit, a program exploring settings of the Latin text for Psalm 110 by the Venetian composer Antonio Lotti and G. F. Handel, and featuring choir members as soloists.
Naturally, we welcomed the holiday season as only Tafelmusik can! Our performances of Handel’s Messiah at Koerner Hall featured a dazzling cast of soloists: soprano Stephanie True; mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó; tenor Nicholas Scott; and bass-baritone Jonathan Woody. Our annual Sing-Along Messiah at Massey Hall, directed by none other than Mr. Handel himself, has become one of Toronto’s favourite holiday traditions. Mr. Handel also made a rare appearance at a Union Station pop-up concert earlier in December.
In late March, soprano Myriam Leblanc and Grammy Award–winning tenor James Reese joined Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Choir under the direction of Taurins for A Bach Celebration. Taurins combed through more than 200 Bach cantatas to hand-pick hidden gems that magnified the composer’s genius.
Our final choral offering for the season, Abendmusik: from Buxtehude to Bach, explored Buxtehude’s profound influence on Bach and also featured music by Johann Christoph Bach, Graupner, Doles, Reincken, and Krebs.
Tours
During the 2025/26 Season, Tafelmusik was on the road with three contrasting programs that brought audiences to their feet across North America. Following our Toronto presentation of Vivaldi’s World with Spanish violinist Lina Tur Bonet, in late October we brought the program to Ottawa at the National Arts Centre’s Southam Hall.
From November 5 to 22, Rachel Podger led the orchestra in Brilliant Baroque, our major Western US and Canada tour, with stops in La Jolla, Berkeley, Carmel, Seattle, Denver, Victoria, Vancouver, Nanaimo, Kelowna, Edmonton, and Calgary. The concerts were met with full houses, resounding applause, and critical acclaim, including a glowing review from The Strad: “From her first cue, Podger led with the easy buoyancy and collegial give-and-take that are her hallmark (…), Her calibration of a playful spontaneity with precision proved beguiling, ornaments flickering with an elegantly charming yet intentional ease.”
In March 2026, Tafelmusik travelled to New York City and Cambridge, Massachusetts for performances of Rameau and The Art of Dance with ensemble Juilliard415 under the direction of Robert Mealy, featuring acclaimed Baroque dancers Caroline Copeland and Julian Donahue.
New Recording & Film Releases
Tafelmusik’s latest album, A Handel Celebration, was released on the Tafelmusik Media label in November 2025. Recorded live in concert, the beautiful 2-CD set is a salute to George Frideric Handel, one of the greatest musical dramatists of all time. Directed by Ivars Taurins, A Handel Celebration features soprano Amanda Forsythe and tenor Thomas Hobbs joining the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Choir in a tapestry of arias, duets, and choruses from Handel’s splendid oratorios.
For the first time in Tafelmusik’s history, we were thrilled to offer select concert films on YouTube for free, broadening access to Tafelmusik’s artistry. Starting in the fall, we shared a gorgeous new concert film, Concerti Virtuosi, directed by Rachel Podger, and starting this summer, will share Alison Mackay’s brilliant multimedia program The Galileo Project, directed by Jeanne Lamon. Join us on Tafelmusik’s YouTube channel to enjoy these special films as well as an array of concert clips.
Education Concerts
Tafelmusik’s educational programming this season featured the presentation of Alison Mackay’s 2005 JUNO award-winning program, The Quest for Arundo Donax. Narrator Blair Williams joined the orchestra for this multimedia event featuring the music of Purcell, Mouret, and Vivaldi. Four concerts were presented to over 3,000 students from roughly 35 schools across Toronto, and Tafelmusik musicians provided complementary in-class presentations to select schools, offering a well-rounded and holistic experience.
“The story was wonderful, and music from the baroque era is always so soothing! Especially LIVE! In our school community, it’s unlikely that many of our students would have the opportunity to attend a classical music concert outside of school, so this excursion was very special.”
—Elementary school principal
Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute and Festival
In 2025/26, Tafelmusik continued with its mission to nurture the next generation of artists. In June, 98 musicians from 22 countries descended on Toronto to attend the 24th annual Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute (TBSI), a top-tier international training program led by Tafelmusik musicians and distinguished guests. In conjunction with TBSI, four free concerts were presented in three different venues across the city under the banner of the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Festival.
“I have never felt so well informed, encouraged, and inspired as a musician in my life.”
—TBSI participant
Community collaborations
Throughout the 2025/26 Season, Tafelmusik renewed its commitment to strengthening community partnerships and bringing the joy and vitality of baroque music to new audiences. Chamber music programs were offered in several venues in and around the Golden Horseshoe region, including the Toronto Botanical Garden, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection as part of the gallery’s Chamber Music Series, the Gallery Players of Niagara in St. Catharines, and Hammer Baroque’s series in Hamilton.
We are proud of our longstanding partnership with Opera Atelier, a world leader in the rediscovery and revitalization of period opera and ballet. In 2025/26, Tafelmusik under the baton of David Fallis joined Opera Atelier in celebrating its landmark 40th year with two significant productions: the company’s signature production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the Elgin Theatre, and a new production of Debussy’s impressionist opera, Pelléas et Mélisande at Koerner Hall TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning.
2026/27 Season
Our next season is packed with not-to-be-missed treasures, from Bach’s monumental St John Passion directed from the harpsichord by the renowned keyboard artist Kristian Bezuidenhout, to Telemania!, a brand-new multimedia program by award-winning creator Alison Mackay. Rachel Podger returns for sparkling season blockbusters, Bach’s Coffeehouse and Mozart’s Genius, while celebrated conductor Jakob Lehmann makes his debut leading Beethoven & Farrenc, our groundbreaking season opener at Koerner Hall.
Vive la France celebrates the 45th anniversary of the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, featuring members of the choir as soloists. Several of our audience’s favourite guest artists return, including acclaimed Canadian actors R.H. Thomson in Purcell’s King Arthur andBlair Williams in Telemania!, violinist Lina Tur Bonet and mezzo-soprano Cecilia Duarte in Baroque Fiesta, and the irrepressible oboist Alfredo Bernardini in A Feast of Sound.
It’s been a delight to share music with you over the past ten months, and we hope you will join us in 2026/27 to savour performances that are bursting with energy, artistry, and “thrilling interplay” (The Strad).
Our heartfelt thanks to Tafelmusik’s devoted subscribers and donors for their commitment to supporting live music. We can’t wait to see you again in the concert hall!