Tafelmusik’s Spring Social features baroque-to-folk program, from Bach to Buffy Sainte-Marie
Premieres online April 29, 2021 at 8PM
“It’s that feeling of camaraderie that brings us joy in times of high and comfort in times of low. Let your old and new friends serenade and talk to you.”
—from Ludwig van Toronto’s preview for 2019 the edition of Café Counterculture
Toronto, April 13, 2021 … For Tafelmusik’s Spring Social, baroque flair meets folk favourites from Yorkville’s colourful past in Café Counterculture, a digital concert premiering April 29, 2021 at 8 PM EDT. First performed live for a sold-out crowd in fall 2019, Café Counterculture returns this spring as a stunning new filmed concert for music lovers of all ages.This trip down memory lane features music by baroque composers, including Telemann, Bach, and Vivaldi, alongside folk favourites by Joni Mitchell, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ian & Sylvia Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young, and Simon & Garfunkel. Tickets are $10 and are available at tafelmusik.org. Single ticket buyers are able to access the concert for four days from the original broadcast time. Tafelmusik’s Marketing Partner for Café Counterculture is TD Toronto Jazz Festival.
It’s 1730s Leipzig, Germany. J.S. Bach and his colleagues gather at Zimmerman’s coffee house for weekly concerts featuring the new music of the day. Fast forward to Toronto in the 1960s. Yorkville (now known as the ‘Mink Mile’) is a hub of subversion and anti-establishment activism. Undiscovered artists are making their breaks, and international acts have come to sling it in underground dives and coffee houses. Legends of this counterculture scene pepper music collections across the world.
Special guests Alex Samaras, vocalist, and Andrew Downing, double bass and arranger, join Tafelmusik’s Elisa Citterio, violin; Marco Cera, oboe; Dominic Teresi, bassoon; and Charlotte Nediger, harpsichord. In this video, Downing talks about the relationship between baroque and folk music, and how he arranged classics from Yorkville’s 1960s music scene for a baroque ensemble.
Program curated by Andrew Downing, Marco Cera, and Elisa Citterio:
- G.P. Telemann Adagio (from Quartetto for oboe, violin, bassoon & continuo in D Minor)
- Gordon Lightfoot This Is My Song
- J.S. Bach / Paul Simon Chorale BWV 727 / American Tune
- J.S. Bach Prelude in C Major for solo harpsichord, BWV 933
- Joni Mitchell Both Sides Now
- A. Vivaldi Allegro (from Sonata for violin, bassoon & continuo in C Minor, RV 83)
- Buffy Sainte-Marie Winter boy
- J.S. Bach Air (from Orchestral Suite no. 3)
- Simon & Garfunkel Scarborough Fair
- G.P. Telemann / Neil Young Largo (from Ouverture in B-flat Major) / Old Man
- J.D. Heinichen Presto (from Sonata for oboe, violin & continuo in C Minor)
- Ian & Sylvia Four Strong Winds
Listing Information:
SPRING SOCIAL:
CAFÉ COUNTERCULTURE
April 29, 2021 premieres 8pm EDT
(viewing access available to ticket holders for four days)
with special guests,
Alex Samaras, vocalist
Andrew Downing, double bass/arranger
Program curated by Andrew Downing, Marco Cera, and Elisa Citterio
Celebrate spring with this trip down memory lane, pairing Tafelmusik’s baroque flair with folk favourites by Joni Mitchell, Simon and Garfunkel, Gordon Lightfoot, and others from Yorkville’s colourful past. Suitable for all ages.
Tickets $10 at tafelmusik.org
Marketing Partner: TD Toronto Jazz Festival
Social Media: Join the conversation on Facebook| Instagram| YouTube| Spotify
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.
Tafelmusik is a Canadian charitable organization whose resources are used entirely to advance the education of music of the past. We rely on donations from our community to make our activities possible.
Media contact: Luisa Trisi, Big Picture Communications, (416) 456-0499
luisa@luisatrisi.com | 427 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M5S 1X7