Principal Guest Director Rachel Podger is leading Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra on the Bach and Baroque Brilliance South Korea Tour. The Tour will take the orchestra to South Korea for six performances in five cities from Oct 22 to Nov 3, 2024
It’s the first time since 2016 that Tafelmusik will tour Asia, and the first tour with the ensemble for Principal Guest Director Rachel Podger. Financial support for the tour has come from Brookfield and grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.
Tafelmusik in Korea
Tafelmusik will be taking part in the 35th annual Eagon Concert, an event held annually in South Korea that is presented free to audiences. Sponsored by a building company of the same name, previous guest artists have included the Philharmonic string Quartet Berlin, and Staatskapelle Berlin String Quartet.
The concerts in the Eagon series will take place at the Arts Center Incheon (Oct 25); Daegu Concert House (Oct 26); Busan Cultural Center (Oct 27); Gwangju Culture & Arts Center (Oct. 29); Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul (Nov 1) and Seoul Arts Center (Nov 2).
The concerts are free of charge in order to be accessible to anyone, including underserved communities.
Along with their performances, Tafelmusik musicians will adjudicate a competition for the best orchestral arrangement of Korea’s unofficial anthem as part of the Arirang Festival. Tafelmusik will then perform the winning arrangement as an encore piece for each Korean concert date.
“It’s an immense privilege for the orchestra to return to South Korea,” says Cristina Zacharias on behalf of Tafelmusik’s Artistic Co-Directors in a statement. “The adventure of bringing the music we love to audiences we don’t yet know is always thrilling. Tafelmusik’s long history of touring has shown us again and again how rewarding it is to connect and engage with people through music in a way that transcends boundaries of country and culture.”
Repertoire from the tour will include English music in a nod to Podger’s native country, including a suite from Purcell’s Fairy Queen, and Avison’s Concerto no. 6 in D Major after Scarlatti. An orchestral suite by Antonín Reichenauer, a Bohemian composer (1694 – 1730) is new to Tafelmusik’s repertoire.
Podger will be the soloist for Bach’s Violin Concerto in A Minor, and the orchestra will also perform the Overture from Orchestral Suite no. 1 in C Major, the Sinfonia from Cantata 42, and the Concerto for Violin & Oboe in C minor, with Podger and the Korean oboist Yongcheon Shin as soloists.
Home audiences in Toronto will be able to experience some of the South Korean programming when Tafelmusik performs their Brilliant Baroque concerts on January 31, February 1 & 2, 2025.
Are you looking to promote an event? Have a news tip? Need to know the best events happening this weekend? Send us a note.
#LUDWIGVAN
Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.
Sign up for the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! — local classical music and opera news straight to your inbox HERE.
- PREVIEW | Sinfonia Toronto Baroque & Beyond Celebrates the Season With Guest Artists The Ezra Duo - December 4, 2025
- INTERVIEW | Director Peter Phillips Talks About The Tallis Scholars And Their Toronto Concert - December 4, 2025
- PREVIEW | The Royal Conservatory Of Music Launches Orchestrated With Cory Wong - December 3, 2025
