Tafelmusik to Pay Tribute To Jeanne Lamon; Tickets On Sale February 24

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. The live performance will be filmed and some seats may be obstructed 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 undecima
Shir hammaa??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

Bach 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

Bach Mein teuer Heiland from St John Passion
Brett Polgeato, baritone; Tafelmusik Chamber Choir

Bach Cantata 170 Vergnügte Ruh, arranged
John Abberger, oboe

Bach Sinfonia to BWV 249a, arranged LISTING INFORMATION:

A Tafelmusik Tribute to Jeanne Lamon
Created by Christina Mahler and Alison Mackay
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra directed by Julia Wedman
Tafelmusik Chamber Choir directed by Ivars Taurins
R.H. Thomson, narrator
Brett Polegato, baritone

Saturday, April 2 at 2pm Live concert
Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul's Centre
427 Bloor Street West
Please note that the live performance will be filmed and some seats may have obstructed views 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.

Learn more at tafelmusik.org

Need more Toronto Theatre News in your life? Sign up for all the news on the Winter season, discounts & more...