Given that we live in an age of impermanence, any arts organization reaching forty years in the business is a cause for celebration. Tafelmusik, Canada’s premiere Baroque orchestra and chamber choir, turns 40 this year. To mark this momentous occasion, a special season launch took place this evening at The Great Hall in Toronto. Supporters, donors, and the media braved a snowstorm to attend the launch party, sip bubbly, and enjoy musical selections performed by the Orchestra under its new Music Director, Elisa Citterio and its Choir Director Ivars Taurins.

Hosted by Tafelmusik soprano Meghan Moore and violist Patrick Jordan, the evening started off with brief speeches by Tafelmusik Managing Director William Norris and Board Chair Helen Polatajko. Music Director Elisa Citterio and Choir Director Ivars Taurins took turns to introduce next season. Among the many highlights are a tour of France, USA, Western Canada and Ontario; Bach’s St. Matthew Passion directed by the world’s foremost Bach authority Masaaki Suzuki, a new multimedia creation called The Harlequin Salon, and Tafelmusik’s first recording of Vivaldi featuring its new Music Director Elisa Citterio at the helm.

Next season also marks the return of the popular Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee House, and the Canadian debuts of several international artists who have worked extensively with Citterio — Enrico Onofri, guest director and violinist in The Tempestuous Violin; and David Blackadder, trumpet soloist in Sound the Trumpet! There’s also special programming on Vivaldi, Mozart, and Haydn, all cornerstones of Tafelmusik’s Baroque-Classical repertoire.

December is Messiah month, and this year, the Tafelmusik Messiah will feature Canadian star mezzo Krisztina Szabo, as well as tenor Charles Daniels and baritone Drew Santini. In case you are worried about the fate of the Sing-Along Messiah given the closure of Massey Hall for renovation, have no fear. It’ll be at Roy Thomson Hall.  Also returning are Haus Musik and Close Encounters, two examples of Tafelmusik’s forward-looking, innovative programming. The training program for musicians of the future, the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute and the Winter Institute continue.

For more information of the Tafelmusik 2018-19 season, go to tafelmusik.com

LUDWIG VAN TORONTO

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Joseph So

Joseph So is Professor Emeritus at Trent University and Associate Editor of Opera Canada.He is also a long-time contributor to La Scena Musicale and Opera (London, UK). His interest in music journalism focuses on voice, opera as well as symphonic and piano repertoires. He appears regularly as a panel member of the Big COC Podcast.He has co-edited a book, Opera in a Multicultural World: Coloniality, Culture, Performance, published by Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group).

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