Tafelmusik, Canada's orchestra on period instruments, is in its 27th season. Established by Kenneth Solway and Susan Graves in 1979, and under the inspired leadership of Music Director and concertmaster Jeanne Lamon since 1981, Tafelmusik has achieved international recognition for its concerts and recordings. The ensemble has eighteen core members and is expanded as the need arises. All orchestra members are specialists in historical performance practice and perform on original instruments or modern replicas faithful in design and construction to the originals.
The Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, specializing in baroque performance practice and vocal technique, was formed in 1981 to complement the orchestra. Under the direction of Ivars Taurins, the choir has been praised for its clarity and brilliance and, in 1991, was awarded the Healey Willan Prize "for its consistently high level of artistic achievement and for its unique contribution to choral art in Canada."
Tafelmusik's success has taken it around the world, with regular tours across North America, Europe, and Asia. This season the orchestra is performing in Europe, the US, and on tour in Ontario and Quebec.
Tafelmusik performs over 50 concerts each season at its home base, the historic Trinity-St. Paul's Centre in downtown Toronto. It also presents a three-concert series at the George Weston Recital Hall and presents several free community concerts each season.
Tafelmusik's education programme continues to thrive, this year with numerous free student concerts and a special family matinee. Tafelmusik musicians will once again work directly with students in their classrooms and students from several schools will spend a day at Trinity-St. Paul's Centre studying and performing with Tafelmusik musicians. The season ends with the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, an intensive residency for senior students, pre-professional and professional musicians which focuses on instrumental and vocal baroque performance practice.
Tafelmusik has released over 70 CDs on the Analekta, Sony Classical, CBC Records, BMG Classics, Hyperion and Collegium labels, and has been awarded numerous international recording prizes, including nine Junos. Recent releases include Tafelmusik's first children's CD Baroque Adventure: The Quest for Arundo Donax (Analekta), Concerti Virtuosi (Analekta), Beethoven Symphonies nos. 5 and 6 (Analekta); Cleopatra featuring soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian (CBC); Italian Oratorios with Matthew White (Analeka); a special 25th anniversary compilation, Baroque Delights (Analekta); a recording of suites from Rameau's Dardanus and Le Temple de la Gloire (CBC); Chants Sacrés et Profanes (CBC); and Le Mozart Noir (CBC), a recording of orchestral music by the classical French black composer Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges. Baroque Adventure: The Quest for Arundo Donax (Analekta) and Beethoven Symphonies nos. 5 and 6 (Analekta) both received 2006 Juno Awards for Best Children’s Album of the Year and Classical Album of the year respectively.
The CD Le Mozart Noir is also the soundtrack of a film project on the life and music of Saint-Georges, produced by Media Headquarters for CBC, PBS, BBC, TV5, and earning a Banff Rocky Award, five Gemini nominations and a Rose D'Or (Switzerland) nomination. Most recently, Tafelmusik worked with Media Headquarters on The Four Seasons Mosaic (CBC), a one-hour documentary about an extraordinary collaboration between Tafelmusik, composer Mychael Danna, Inuit throat singers, and musicians performing on the Indian veena and the Chinese pipa.
