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TRANSCRIPT
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra is thrilled to present J.S. Bach: The Circle of Creation — a celebration of
the genius of Bach and the latest multi-media creation by Alison Mackay, the creator of phenomenally
successful Tafelmusik productions seen around the world including The Galileo Project and House of
Dreams.
J.S. Bach: The Circle of Creation combines text, music, and stunning projected video and images to
explore the world of the artisans — papermakers, violin carvers, string spinners, and performers — who
helped J.S. Bach realize his musical genius. This all-Bach programme is performed by Tafelmusik
musicians entirely from memory.
J.S. Bach: The Circle of Creation blends 21st-century technology with an exploration of the tradition and
skill of old world craftspeople and artisans. Like its predecessors The Galileo Project and House of
Dreams, Mackay’s latest creation redefines the concert experience.
"In these hands, Bach’s music feels more alive than ever." The Globe and Mail
"...the latest production in Tafelmusik’s growing multimedia catalog is interesting, charming, and
smoothly put together. Let’s hope there are more to come." Classical Voice America
The performance timings are as follows (approximate timings only):
Part I 45 min. Intermission 20 min. Part II 40 min. Total 1 hour, 45 min.
For more information and to see video footage of a live performance please visit tafelmusik.org.
Produced with support from the Paul D Fleck Fellowship residency and Media and Production
The Banff Centre
Banff, Alberta, Canada.
J.S. Bach: The Circle of Creation
PROGRAMME NOTES
by Alison Mackay
Three themes lie behind the design of J.S.Bach: The Circle of Creation. The concert is a celebration of the genius of
Bach, with a special emphasis on the instrumental music which he created for his family, his students, and his
colleagues. In words and images, the performance also honours the work of the artisans and tradespeople whose
labour and expertise made the performances of Bach’s music possible. Finally, in examining the origins and anatomy
of Bach’s orchestra, we hope to shed light on the inner workings of our own.
The concert is presided over by the immortal brothers Apollo and Mercury, patron gods of Bach’s city of Leipzig.
One of the earliest monuments of Western culture, the Homeric Hymn to Mercury explains how Apollo became the
god of music, and Mercury the god of herds and of artisans. An excerpt from the story begins the concert, describing
how the newborn Mercury killed a tortoise and fashioned from it a glorious musical instrument strung with seven
strings of sheep gut. The photo of a tortoiseshell lyre dating from the fifth century BCE (around the same time as the
story it illustrates) was sent to us by the British Museum, where the lyre was restored after being found in an
excavation in Athens and acquired by the seventh Earl of Elgin, famous for having removed the Elgin Marbles
from the Parthenon.
The building of baroque instruments also began with materials from the natural world — bird feathers for the quills
that pluck harpsichord strings, maple and spruce for the bodies of stringed instruments, boxwood for oboes. Two
millennia after the creation of the ancient lyre, sheep intestines were still used to create strings for Bach’s string
instruments, and brass strings were made by hand for his harpsichords. Eighteenth-century techniques are still used
for the manufacture of historical strings for period instruments today. Because the guild members of early modern
Europe were obliged to guard their trade secrets, modern makers have had to be detectives, using forensic evidence
from scraps of old strings and sources such as Denis Diderot’s eighteenth-century Encyclopédie of the “Sciences,
Arts, and Crafts” to determine the materials and techniques that would have been used for Bach’s instruments.
Our concert features film footage of two pioneers in this field: the harpsichord builder and restorer Malcolm Rose,
who supplies the brass and iron wire for the strings of Tafelmusik’s harpsichord, and the Italian firm of Aquila,
which produces gut strings for the violin family in the northern Italian city of Vicenza. We are deeply grateful to
Malcolm Rose for welcoming our cameraman Mike Grippo into his workshop, and to Jean-Marc St-Pierre of
Productions MAJ in Montreal for permission to use his footage of the Aquila factory originally shot for the
television series How It’s Made. We also warmly thank Paul Lewis and Elizabeth Brown of the Discovery Channel,
and Tafelmusik Board of Directors member Trina McQueen for facilitating our use of the film.
Hoping to reveal the architecture of a string instrument of Bach’s time and the months of work needed for its
construction, we asked the esteemed Toronto luthier, Quentin Playfair, who restores and repairs the Tafelmusik
string instruments, if he would record the entire process of building a new cello. Inspired by the instrument known as
the “Saveuse” cello of 1726, one of the smallest cellos to have emerged from the workshop of Antonio Stradivari,
Quentin began work and allowed photographs to be taken as he bent the ribs, carved the body and scroll, and
inserted the decorative lines of inlay called “purfling” which embellish the edges of a finely made cello. We are
grateful to Quentin and to Sue Dickin, who took the beautiful photographs of the cello over the period of its creation,
and to cellist and teacher Sandra Bohn, the new owner of the instrument, who graciously allowed us to witness its
metamorphosis from rough maple and spruce to vibrant generator of sound waves. Hearing the rich and powerful
sound of the cello when Sandra set the strings into vibration for the first time was an unforgettable thrill.
The concert also highlights the contributions of other distinguished instrument makers whose work has been part of
the orchestra for many years. Stephen Marvin is well known to Tafelmusik audiences through his long association
with the orchestra as a violinist and a maker of fine bows. Atlanta oboe maker Harry Vas Dias, who has a long
association with John Abberger, and the workshop of Guntram and Peter Wolf, who have built bassoons for
Dominic Teresi, are also featured.
A very special contribution has also been made to this concert by Dr. Daniel Geiger, Microscopist and Curator of
Malacology (the study of molluscs) at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Dr. Geiger, the author of
numerous books and scientific articles, has described over one hundred new taxa; nine species and one genus are
named after him. He is also an accomplished amateur player of the viola d’amore, on which he has performed at the
International Viola d’amore Congress with our own celebrated virtuoso of the instrument, Thomas Georgi. Dr.
Geiger has created a set of stunning magnified images of the materials described in the concert, and we are
incredibly grateful for the enthusiasm which he brought to the project, and for his generosity in providing us with so
many magnified views.
The project also owes a debt to several other generous providers of images. Ivars Taurins rendered the beautiful
calligraphy of the bass line of the Goldberg canons in his elegant hand. The University of Iowa Centre for the Book
specializes in the techniques and artistry of historical papermaking. We are grateful to Timothy Barrett, director of
the Centre for the Book, and to filmmaker Avi Michael, creator of the film Chancery Papermaking, for the beautiful
footage of paper being made as it was in the time of Bach. We are also grateful to our friends Kerstin Wiese,
director of the Bach Museum Leipzig, and to Dr. Dettloff Schwerdtfeger, director of the Bach Archiv, Leipzig,
for facilitating meetings with Leipzig scholars and allowing items in the museum to be photographed. And we are
grateful to Production Designer Glenn Davidson for creating the beautiful photographs of musicians’ hands and of
the sheep shown during the famous work now known as “Sheep may safely graze” (Schafe können sicher weiden)
from Bach’s earliest surviving secular cantata, BWV 208.
This cantata was performed after a hunting expedition at the thirty-first birthday party of the Duke of Saxe-
Weissenfels. In 1725 Bach composed another cantata for the forty-third birthday party of the same duke. The
opening sinfonia of that celebratory work begins our concert and must have been a favourite of Bach, as he used it
again for the beginning Cantata 249, now known as the Easter Oratorio. We have taken his process of recycling
one step further in several adaptations of cantata movements into instrumental works suited to the orchestration of
Tafelmusik. These movements all had their origins in secular cantatas: the serene opening movement of the
Wedding Cantata BWV 202; the first aria of Cantata 42, which is thought to have been a reworking of a lost
birthday serenata composed for the Duke of Anhalt-Cöthen; and the opening chorus of the Ascension Cantata
BWV 11, which was originally a celebratory cantata for the completion of renovations of the St. Thomas Choir
School, which included the Bach family apartments.
The rest of the music on the programme is typical of the works that would have been performed at the regular Friday
night concerts at Zimmerman’s Coffeehouse in the centre of Leipzig. In 1695 the merchants’ guild of Leipzig had
petitioned the town council for “street lanterns that would, as in Vienna and Berlin, burn all night to prevent
incessant nocturnal crime.” On Christmas Eve of 1701, seven hundred oil-fuelled streetlights, 478 made by the local
tinsmiths’ guild after a model in Amsterdam, and 222 from Dresden were installed in the city, making it safe for the
first time for middle-class citizens to walk freely at night, transforming coffeehouses into middle-class venues for
recreation, listening to the newspaper being read aloud, and listening to music.
Bach directed an ensemble that performed on Friday nights at the cafe for which the owner, Georg Zimmerman,
acquired a set of musical instruments. The Orchestral Suites BWV 1066 and 1068, the Third Brandenburg
Concerto, the Trio Sonata BWV 1039, the Goldberg Variations, and the shorter solos for harpsichord, violin, and
cello are typical of music which Bach would have performed with members of his family, university students, and
amateur players of the ensemble known as the Collegium Musicum. Professional player from the Leipzig town
band also participated in these performances: the municipal musicians were given salaries, clothing, music,
instruments, and housing for themselves and their families in the Stadtpfeiffer Gässchen (“City Pipers’ Lane”),
which was also the traditional street for the city’s midwives.
The municipality and its music were supported by a thriving economy based largely on the success of the famous
trade fairs that took place in the city three times a year. Although forbidden permanent residence in the city, Jewish
merchants were encouraged to attend the fairs because of their international connections and business acumen; they
were charged a hefty head tax as they entered the city gates, and a higher than normal excise tax upon leaving, thus
making a huge contribution to the city coffers. (A devastating fire in the warehouses of the eastern city of Brody in
the mid-eighteenth century kept the Jewish merchants from attending the fair, and the city of Leipzig suffered a huge
financial loss.) Max Freudenthal, an early twentieth-century rabbi and scholar who compiled the detailed archival
tax records of all Jewish visitors to the fairs in Bach’s time, has given us a fascinating portrait of commercial travel
from Constantinople, Venice, and Siberia as merchants and their families, cooks, and musicians swelled the
population of the city three times a year. The various communities established temporary prayer houses at the north
end of the city, where Sabbath observance, presided over by the Rabbi of Dessau, included the singing in
cantillation of the text of the beautiful poetry of the Song of Songs.
In 1746 the Dresden official court painter Elias Gottlob Haussmann painted a portrait of the sixty-one-year-old
Bach holding, as was customary, an emblem of his art. Rather than being pictured with a keyboard, the famous
virtuoso chose instead to hold a small piece of paper with three short lines of music — the first eight notes of the
bass line of the Goldberg Variations with a six-part canon written in code. It was a powerful symbol of Bach’s roles
as composer, performer, and teacher. Like the instrument makers who made his violins and harpsichords, Bach
regarded himself as a craftsman who had inherited much from the guild musicians who were his forebears.
Our concert ends with a reflection on human hands and the thousands of hours it takes to master the use of a violin
bow or a chisel. In the long hours of labour, musicians and artisans are sustained by the beauty of materials, the
artistry of their tools, the guidance of inspiring mentors, or the exhilaration of exploring the art of a great genius. In
June of 2014 the members of Tafelmusik were invited to live in Bach’s city of Leipzig for two weeks as ensemble-
in-residence at the annual festival that celebrates his legacy. It has been our great privilege to have been able to
explore his world and to prepare for this concert with the mutual support of our colleagues and the generosity of the
builders, photographers, filmmakers, and scholars whose contributions have so enriched the creation of the project. I
would particularly like to acknowledge the hours of work spent by our librarian Charlotte Nediger in preparing the
editions of the music in individual books for each member of the orchestra, and the untold practice time spent by the
performers in preparing to do what no musician in Bach’s orchestra would have dreamt of — playing an entire
concert from memory.
©Alison Mackay 2015
This document is for reference only and is not to be used for house programmes:
tour presenters will be sent programme material specific to their performances.
TAFELMUSIK BAROQUE ORCHESTRA
J.S. Bach: The Circle of Creation
Conceived, programmed, & scripted by Alison Mackay
Richard Greenblatt Narrator
Directed by Jeanne Lamon
Marshall Pynkoski Stage Director
Glenn Davidson Production Designer
Raha Javanfar Projection Designer
Jane MacRae Film Editor
Sinfonia to Cantata 249a
Sonata for 3 violins in C Major, after BWV 1005: I. Adagio
Orchestral suite no. 1 in C Major, BWV 1066: Ouverture
Chorale tune “Gloria laus et honor”
Orchestral suite no. 1 in C Major, BWV 1066: Bourrée & Forlane
Sinfonia in G Minor, BWV 797, for solo harpsichord
Prelude in C Major, BWV 933, for solo harpsichord
Suite no. 3 for violoncello in C Major, BWV 1009: Sarabande
Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048: I. Allegro
Adagio, after Cantata 202/1: “Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten”
(Depart, melancholy shadows)
Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048: II. Allegro
INTERMISSION
Andante, after Cantata 208/9: “Schafe können sicher weiden”
(Sheep may safely graze)
Partita for violin in D Minor, BWV 1004: Allemande
Cantata 140: Chorale “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme”
(Awake, calls the voice to us)
Orchestral suite no. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068: Gavottes
Sonata for 2 violins and continuo in G Major, BWV 1039:
Adagio & Allegro ma non presto
Canons on the first 8 notes of Goldberg Variations, BWV 1087
Simplex – Duplex a 4 – Duplex a 5 – Triplex
Excerpts from Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
Air – Variation #18: Canone alla sexta –
Variation #22: Alla breve – Variation #10: Fughetta
Adagio, after Cantata 42/3: “Wo zwei und drei versammlet sind”
(Where two and three are gathered together)
Sinfonia, after Cantata 11/1: “Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen”
(Praise the Lord in his riches)
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
Violin: Jeanne Lamon, Patricia Ahern, Thomas Georgi, Geneviève Gilardeau,
Christopher Verrette, Julia Wedman, Cristina Zacharias
Viola: Stefano Marcocchi, Patrick G. Jordan
Violoncello: Christina Mahler, AllenWhear
Double Bass: Alison Mackay
Oboe: John Abberger, Marco Cera
Bassoon: Dominic Teresi
Harpsichord: Charlotte Nediger
Movements from Cantatas 249a, 202, 208, 42, & 11, and Goldberg Variations #18 & 22
transcribed & arranged by Alison Mackay. Sonata BWV 1005 arranged by Christopher Verrette.
This document is for reference only and is not to be used for house programmes:
tour presenters will be sent programme material specific to their performances.
J.S. Bach: The Circle of Creation
IMAGE CREDITS
1. Apollo with lyre. Photo credit: Depositphotos [phil bird].
2. Mercury with metal wheel. Photo credit: Dreamstime images, ©Slayerspb.
3. Apollo and Mercury plaques. Image credit: Raha Javanfar
4. Elias Gottlieb Haussmann, Portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach, Stadtgeschichtliches Museum, Leipzig. Photo
credit: Erich Lessing/Art Resource NY.
5. Overview of Hyades Star Cluster. Photo credit: NASA, ESA, ST Scl.
6. Cyprus Grove at Dawn / Cyprus Ridge in Arcadia. Photo credit: Elizabeth Ganiatsos.
7. Tortoise Shell Lyre, © The Trustees of the British Museum.
Richard Earlom, after Claude Lorrain, by kind permission of Harvard Art Museums:
8. A Landscape, with Buildings, and Mercury Stealing Admetus’s Cattle from Apollo
9. A Landscape, with Cattle
10. A Landscape, with Cattle, and with Mercury and Battus
11. Abraham Ortelius, Map of Europe, c.1570. Photo credit: Depositphoto (cascoly).
12. Paul de Wit, Map of Leipzig, by kind permission of Olaf Simons.
Photos of Leipzig. Photo credit: Gert Mothes.
13. Statues of Apollo and Mercury on the Stock Exchange
14. Towers of St. Nicholas and St. Thomas Church
15. City Hall
16. Leipzig film footage of baroque Stock Exchange, St. Nicholas Church, St. Thomas Church, City Hall, and White
Elster River. Filmed by Alex Foster.
17. Photos of rastrum and ingredients of Bach’s ink taken with kind permission of the Bach Museum, Leipzig. Photo
credit: Gert Mothes.
18. Image of Leipzig Stadpfeiffergasse, by kind permission of Martin Geisler.
19. Joachim Ernst Scheffler, Leipzig Stock Market, 1749; images of watermarks used by Bach; page of continuo part
from J.S. Bach Cantata 14. By kind permission of the Bach Museum, Leipzig.
20. Microscopic views of feather, woods, bow hair, gut strings, and rosin. Wood shavings provided by Olivia Pelling
(Finestrings, Ottawa). Feather material provided by Dr. Krista Fahy, Curator of Ornithology at the Santa Barbara
Museum of Natural History. Photo credit: Daniel Geiger.
21. Photos of indoor Apollo and Mercury statues, town councillors, and eighteenth-century trade fair catalogue taken
with kind permission of the Leipzig City Museum. Photo credit: Gert Mothes.
22. Images of millwheel stampers, rag sorters, papermakers, and candlemakers from Denis Diderot, Encyclopédie des
sciences, des arts, et des métiers, 1750–1765, by kind permission of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library,
University of Toronto.
23. Bernard Picart, Outdoor concert, 1709. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
24. Vincent Laurensz van der Vinne, Gold Shop, 1714. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
25. Photo of Doubrava used by kind permission of Petr Kečkeš.
26. Photo of Grüen paper mill, by kind permission of the AS/Doubrava Museum. Many thanks to Jitka Klimova,
Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Toronto.
27. Film footage from Chancery Papermaking created by Avi Michael used by kind permission of Timothy Barrett,
Director of the University of Iowa Centre of the Book
28. Film footage of wire drawing and harpsichord making at the workshop of Malcolm Rose, Lewes, U.K. Filmed by
Mike Grippo for Tafelmusik.
29. Workshop of luthier Quentin Playfair, Toronto. Photo credits: Sue Dickin & Quentin Playfair.
30. Oboe and bassoon making at the Guntram Wolf family workshop, Kronach, Germany. Photo credit: Anna Marsh.
31. Workshop of Harry vas Dias, Atlanta, GA. ©Hastings Huggins.
32. Saxon Merino Sheep. Photo credit: Glenn Davidson.
33. Film footage of the Aquila String Factory created for How It's Made by Productions MAJ, Montreal.
34. Workshop of Stephen Marvin. Photos kindly provided by Stephen Marvin.
Song of Songs images:
35. Philip van Gunst, Celebrating the Sabbath in a Jewish family, c.1725. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
36. Abraham Mignon, Still life with fruit. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
37. Ottmar Elliger, Still life with liles. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
38. Anonymous gouache, Collegium musicum concert in a tavern, c.1740, by kind permission of Germanisches
Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg.
39. Three versions of the first eight notes of the bass line of Bach Goldberg Variations, drawn by Ivars Taurins.
40. Leonardo da Vinci, Drawing of the anatomy of the hand. Photo credit: Depositphotos (lollok).
41. Hand montage photo credits: Glenn Davidson, Mike Grippo, Avi Michael,
Sue Dickin, and Sian Richards.
Final montage:
Childhood and youthful photos of Tafelmusik players kindly provided by members of the orchestra.
Photos ©Depositphotos: white horse [vikarus], maple key [ligora], maple tree [manfredxy], spruce cones [ketta],
ravens in flight [rck953], native copper [only fabrizio], and spheralerite (zinc) [wlad74], flax seeds [boggy22], flax
flower [VID].
Press
The Globe and Mail Preview, May 6, 2015 Inside Toronto Preview, May 1, 2015 Toronto Star, May 3, 2015
Live photos (click to download a high resolution JPEG)
photo by Glenn Davidson
photo by Glenn Davidson
photo by Glenn Davidson
photo by Glenn Davidson
photo by Glenn Davidson
photo by Glenn Davidson
photo by Glenn Davidson
photo by Glenn Davidson
photo by Glenn Davidson
photo by Glenn Davidson
Live Performance Excerpt
Interview with creator Alison Mackay
BIOGRAPHY Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra Tafelmusik, Canada’s award-winning orchestra on period instruments, has become an internationally recognized ensemble lauded by Gramophone Magazine as “one of the world’s top baroque orchestras.” Founded in 1979 by Kenneth Solway and Susan Graves, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra was under the inspired leadership of Music Director Jeanne Lamon from 1981 to 2014. She assumes the role of Chief Artistic Advisor during the search for her successor, and will work on developing the Tafelmusik International Baroque Academy (TIBA). Lamon will continue to perform with the orchestra for specific Toronto and touring programmes, and will lead artistic planning until Tafelmusik’s new Music Director is appointed. With its artist-focused mandate and commitment to excellence and innovation, Tafelmusik is known around the world for its creative, innovative new contexts for the performance of baroque and classical music. At the heart of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra is a group of seventeen remarkably talented, enthusiastic, and dynamic permanent members, each of whom is a specialist in historical performance practice. Their collaboration results in a delightful transparency, vitality, and richness of sound, which has garnered acclaim around the world. The musicians participate on many levels, whether as core members, soloists, or contributors to the exceptionally creative programming ideas that bring Tafelmusik concerts to life and make them fully relevant in a 21st-century context. Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, Jeanne Lamon Hall Tafelmusik recently launched an ambitious $3 million project to revitalize Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, its home performance venue since 1981. The two-phase project is being undertaken in partnership with long-time collaborators Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church and the Toronto Consort, and will help usher in Tafelmusik’s vision of becoming a global centre of excellence in period performance, while preserving the 125-year-old building’s sacred and historic character. Phase One renovations were completed in September 2013 and include acoustical improvements, the installation of a permanent stage, and more comfortable seating. Phase Two was completed in 2014 and saw improvements to the lobby/narthex area, increased wheelchair accessibility, and installation of lighting and safety equipment Tafelmusik Media In January 2012, Tafelmusik launched its own independent label, Tafelmusik Media, which encompasses new digital, live performance, studio CD and DVD recordings, and re-releases of previous Tafelmusik recordings from SONY Classical and CBC Records. The Watch and Listen site features excerpts from recent releases, including films from the House of Dreams DVD and audio tracks from Beethoven Symphonies 1–4. Tafelmusik Media recordings are distributed by Naxos USA and Naxos Global Logistics.
Tafelmusik Chamber Choir The Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, specializing in baroque and classical performance practice, was formed in 1981 to complement the orchestra. Under the direction of Ivars Taurins, the choir was awarded the Healey Willan Prize in 1991 and has been described as “the best period-performance choir anywhere in the world” (The Globe and Mail). The Tafelmusik Chamber Choir has made several critically acclaimed recordings, including Gloria in Excelsis Deo released on CBC Records in 2007 in celebration of the choir’s 25th anniversary season, and a live-concert CD of Handel’s Messiah recorded in 2011 at Koerner Hall, which was nominated for a 2013 JUNO Award. Tafelmusik’s annual performances of Messiah and Sing-Along Messiah have become an established part of Toronto's holiday tradition. In September 2011, the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir appeared with Kent Nagano and l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal at the inaugural concerts of La Maison symphonique de Montréal. This performance of Beethoven Symphony no. 9 was recorded and has been released on CD by Analekta. Touring Tafelmusik’s regular tours in Canada, the United States, and Europe are complemented by tours to such destinations as Asia and Australia. The orchestra has toured in Asia since 1990, performing in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the People’s Republic of China. Tafelmusik’s unique multidisciplinary and cross-cultural concert programmes — such as The Galileo Project and House of Dreams — were created by double bassist Alison Mackay and have opened doors around the world. In recent years, Tafelmusik has taken The Galileo Project on the road to Australia and New Zealand, Japan, the Beijing Music Festival, Kuala Lumpur, and the United States. House of Dreams travelled to Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles as part of an eight-city US Tour in 2013, as well as more recently to Australia and New Zealand in 2015. Tafelmusik has been invited to perform in Europe’s most prestigious concert halls, including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Musikverein in Vienna, Symphony Hall in Birmingham, and the Barbican Centre in London. The only Canadian orchestra to have held an annual international residency, Tafelmusik was orchestra-in-residence at the Klang und Raum Festival in Irsee, Germany for 19 years from 1993 to 2011. In June 2014, Tafelmusik made its debut as Orchestra-in-Residence at BachFest Leipzig, in the city where Bach spent the last 25 years of his life. Since 1984 Tafelmusik has also performed in Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Mexico, The Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Venezuela, and from coast to coast in the United States and Canada. Tafelmusik made its debut at the Reate Festival in Rieti, Italy by invitation from the Festival’s Artistic Director Kent Nagano in 2009, and was invited to return in August 2010. Tafelmusik also performed at New York’s legendary Carnegie Hall in 2009, 2011, and 2014.
Recordings An integral part of Tafelmusik’s success worldwide has been its recordings, with a discography of more than 80 baroque and classical albums on the Analekta, CBC Records, Sony Classical, Collegium, Hyperion and BMG Classics labels, nine of which have won JUNO Awards. Recent releases on the Tafelmusik Media label include Baroque Virtuoso (a limited edition commemorative CD featuring highlights from Jeanne Lamon’s recordings), Beethoven Symphonies 1 to 4, House of Dreams (CD and DVD), The Galileo Project (CD and DVD), Sing-Along Messiah (DVD), a live-concert CD of Messiah recorded in 2011 at Koerner Hall, and several re-releases of Tafelmusik CDs originally recorded for SONY and CBC Records. Tafelmusik’s reach has extended to television and film, with performance documentaries Le Mozart Noir and The Four Seasons Mosaic. Produced by Media Headquarters, Le Mozart Noir is a documentary on Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a black French composer and contemporary of Mozart. Originally broadcast on CBC, BBC, PBS, TV5, and ARTV, the DVD was released in 2005. The Four Seasons Mosaic, also produced by Media Headquarters, is a cross-cultural arts special that reinvents Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons to include a Chinese pipa, Indian sarangi, and Inuit throat-singing. The Four Seasons Mosaic premiered on CBC Television’s “Opening Night” in 2005, and the DVD is paired with Tafelmusik’s L’estro armonico CD. A live performance of Tafelmusik’s Sing-Along Messiah produced by 90th Parallel Productions was released on DVD 2012 on the Tafelmusik Media label, and has been telecast nationally on Bravo!, CTV, and by American public broadcaster WNED. Toronto Season At home in Toronto, Tafelmusik performs over 50 concerts each season at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, a historic church in the Annex neighbourhood of Toronto, as well as a series of performances at George Weston Recital Hall in the Toronto Centre for the Arts, and at Koerner Hall, TELUS Centre for the Performing Arts, Royal Conservatory of Music. Tafelmusik’s long and celebrated collaboration with Opera Atelier has helped establish Toronto as an important North American centre for baroque and classical opera performance. The two organizations collaborate on two productions per season in Toronto’s historic Elgin theatre. In 2012 Tafelmusik joined Opera Atelier at the Royal Opera House in Versailles, France to perform Lully’s Armide, and returned in May 2014 for performances of Lully’s Persée. Artist Training Working towards its vision of becoming an international centre of musical excellence, Tafelmusik has invested much energy and many resources into ongoing music education and outreach programs for music-lovers of all ages. In 2002, the orchestra and choir founded the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute (TBSI). TBSI offers advanced students, pre-professional, and professional musicians an in-depth introduction to baroque repertoire and performance practice through masterclasses, lectures, orchestral and choral training, and chamber ensembles. TBSI is held at the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto, where Tafelmusik is the baroque orchestra-in-residence. Building on the success of TBSI, in January 2013, Tafelmusik launched the Tafelmusik Winter Institute, an annual week-long specialized institute for experienced players of period instruments. In 2010, Tafelmusik launched Baroque Mentors, allowing emerging artists to learn directly from Tafelmusik musicians and distinguished guest artists through university residencies and guest artist masterclasses.
Tafelmusik continues its commitment to the Advanced Certificate in Baroque Performance Programme at the University of Toronto. This one-year programme is an intensive immersion in baroque performance on period instruments, combining study and performance with Tafelmusik musicians with academic courses offered at the Faculty of Music. Also offered is a two-year graduate programme leading to a Master of Music in Period Performance. Tafelmusik's vision for music education includes a programme for students in elementary and secondary schools featuring free outreach concerts, a musician-in-the-classroom programme, multi-disciplinary projects with area schools, and education events on tour, including children’s concerts and school visits. As part of an ongoing commitment to music education, Tafelmusik provides permanent music-education classroom materials to the school groups they meet on tour, including access to Tafelmusik’s online learning centre, curriculum-based study guides, the JUNO Award-winning TafelKIDS™ recording Baroque Adventure: The Quest for Arundo Donax CD, the critically acclaimed Four Season Mosaic DVD with Inuit, Chinese and South Asian musicians, and Tafelmusik recordings related to our education concerts. For more information, please visit: www.tafelmusik.org
International Awards & Nominations
2014
Tafelmusik receives the 2014 NAC Award for Distinguished Contribution to Touring Jeanne Lamon is appointed to The Order of Ontario Jeanne Lamon receives Honorary Doctorate from the University of Toronto Jeanne Lamon receives Early Music America’s Howard Mayer Brown Award for Lifetime Achievement House of Dreams (Tafelmusik Media) nominated for a 2014 JUNO Award
2013
Tafelmusik wins Touring Artist of the Year 2012/2013 from the Canadian Arts Presenting Association The Galileo Project (Tafelmusik Media) nominated for a 2013 JUNO Award Handel’s Messiah (Tafelmusik Media) nominated for a 2013 JUNO Award Jeanne Lamon receives Lifetime Achievement Award from Toronto Musicians’ Association Alison Mackay wins 2013 Betty Webster Award from Orchestras Canada
2012
Bach Tafelmusik and Daniel Taylor CD (Analekta) nominated for a 2012 JUNO Award Tafelmusik and Musica Viva win an Australian Helpmann Award for their presentation of The Galileo
Project during their Australian 2012 Tour Bach Tafelmusik and Daniel Taylor CD and Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with OSM (Analekta)
nominated for ADISQ awards Managing Director Tricia Baldwin wins the Canada Council for the Arts’ John Hobday Award for Arts
Management and the Harvard Business Club of Toronto scholarship.
2011 Tafelmusik Chamber Choir Director Ivars Taurins nominated for a 2011 Gemini Award for Best
Performance in a Performing Arts Programme for his portrayal of “Herr Handel” in Tafelmusik’s Sing-Along Messiah film by 90
th Parallel Productions, which was telecast across Canada on Bravo!
2010 Tafelmusik’s The Galileo Project: Music of the Spheres was nominated for The International Year of
Astronomy 2009/Mani Bhaumik Prize for Excellence in Astronomy Education and Public Outreach 2009
Tafelmusik receives 2009 Betty Webster Award from Orchestras Canada The Minor Planet Institute of the International Astronomical Union names a minor planet (an asteroid)
after Tafelmusik, in recognition of Tafelmusik’s contribution to the IYA2009 Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 7 and 8 CD (Analekta) nominated for a 2009 JUNO Award
2008
Vivaldi L’estro armonico CD (Analekta/Sony BMG) nominated for a 2007 JUNO Award Vivaldi L’estro armonico CD (Analekta/Sony BMG) selected as Editor’s Choice by Gramophone
Magazine UK in February 2008 Vivaldi L’estro armonico CD (Analekta/Sony BMG) designated BBC Music Magazine “Orchestra
Recording of the Month” in January 2008 2007
Music Director Jeanne Lamon receives Betty Webster Award from Orchestras Canada Music Director Jeanne Lamon receives honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree from Mount Saint
Vincent University. Canadian Independent Music Award nomination for “Favourite Classical Artist/Group or Duo of the
Year”.
2006
Music Director Jeanne Lamon awarded the Roy Thomson Hall Award for Exceptional Achievement in Music
Awarded eighth and ninth JUNO Awards for Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6 (Analekta) and Baroque Adventure: The Quest for Arundo Donax (Analekta)
Canadian Independent Music Award nomination for Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6 (Analekta) 2005
Awarded sixth and seventh JUNO Awards for Cleopatra with Isabel Bayrakdarian (CBC) and Jean-Philippe Rameau: Dardanus; Le Temple de la Gloire (CBC)
American Grammy Award nomination for Jean-Philippe Rameau: Dardanus; Le Temple de la Gloire (CBC)
Canadian Independent Music Award nominations for Italian Oratorios with Matthew White and Cleopatra with Isabel Bayrakdarian (CBC)
Opus Magazine Record Award for Cleopatra with Isabel Bayrakdarian (CBC) Chris Award, Columbus International Film & Video Festival, Four Seasons Mosaic
2004
Jeanne Lamon receives the Toronto Musicians’ Association Musician of the Year Award. 2003
Five Gemini nominations for international documentary Le Mozart Noir, including “Best Performance” Only Canadian ensemble to win a Banff Rocky Award in the category of Performance Documentary for
Le Mozart Noir Diapason D’Or (France) for Bach Orchestral Suites CD Rose D’Or nomination (Switzerland) for Le Mozart Noir television documentary Fourth Lieutenant Governor’s Award for the Arts ($50,000) for excellence in developing private sector
and community support Indie Award nomination for “Classical Album of the Year” - Scarlatti Salve Regina / Vivaldi Stabat Mater
with contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Analekta) 15
th, 16
th, and 17
th Juno Award nominations for:
- Chants Sacrés et Profanes - Bach Orchestral Suites - Le Mozart Noir
2002
14th JUNO Award nomination for A Baroque Feast
Third Lieutenant Governor’s Award for the Arts for excellence in developing private sector and community support
2001
11th, 12
th, and 13
th JUNO Award Nominations for:
- Bach Peasant & Coffee Cantatas - Bach Motets - Telemann Orchestral Suites
2000 Jeanne Lamon receives the Order of Canada Tenth JUNO nomination for Handel’s Arias and Dances with soprano Karina Gauvin
1998
Second Lieutenant Governor’s Award for the Arts ($25,000) for excellence in developing private sector and community support
Eleven Vivaldi Concertos awarded Best Vivaldi recording of 1997 in Italy by the Jury of the Premio Internazionale del Disco
Awarded fifth JUNO Award for Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks Music Director Jeanne Lamon receives the Molson Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts
1997
Jeanne Lamon receives the M. Joan Chalmers’ National Award for Artistic Direction Eighth JUNO nomination for Handel’s Water Music
1996
Awarded the Echo Klassik Award for Best Orchestra of the Year, the German equivalent of the American Grammy Award
Jeanne Lamon awarded the prestigious Muriel Sherrin Award by the Toronto Arts Council for her international success in music
Lieutenant Governor’s Award for the Arts ($25,000) for excellence in developing private sector and community support
Cannes Classical Music Award for Haydn’s Paris Symphonies. This award is the world’s only classical music prize judged by eight international music magazines.
1995
Awarded fourth JUNO Award for Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos 1994
Awarded third JUNO Award for Handel’s Concerti Grossi Honorary Doctorate awarded to Jeanne Lamon by York University
1993
Awarded second JUNO Award for Handel’s Floridante Nominated for Early Music Group of the Year by International Classical Music Nominated for “Gramophone Record of the Year”
1992
Three nominations for JUNO Awards for Sony Classical Releases: - Mozart German Dances - Mozart Overtures - Mozart Six Symphonies after Serenades
1991
Tafelmusik Chamber Choir awarded the Healey Willan Prize for “for its consistently high level of artistic achievement and for its unique contribution to choral art in Canada.”
1990
Awarded first JUNO Award for Boccherini’s Symphonies and Cello Concertos 1988
“Ensemble of the Year” award by the Canadian Music Council
Technical Rider Circle of Creation
Tour Personnel: 18 musicians, 1 actor/narrator, 4 tour/tech staff
PRESENTER TO CONFIRM ALL POINTS WITH TAFELMUSIK TECHNICAL DIRECTOR (Glenn Davidson - 416 995 3667)
A: STAGE REQUIREMENTS 1) EQUIPMENT (chairs, etc.) PROVIDED BY PRESENTER/VENUE:
2)
SET/STAGING: PROVIDED BY TAFELMUSIK: The design concept for this production includes a 16'x12' projection screen with a baroque replica frame. This screen requires a minimum of 24’ downstage of the screen and stands at 18’ tall (12’ screen + 6’ clearance beneath). It has the option to be self-supporting OR flown in; please contact Tafelmusik’s Technical Director to confirm which option suits your venue.
The show includes a taped floor pattern, provided by Tafelmusik. Please confirm that taping the floor is acceptable.
The screen in 8 14”x16”x46” road-crates, each weighing under 75 lbs.
All props and costumes are provided by Tafelmusik.
PROVIDED BY PRESENTER: If the Presenter chooses the self-supporting option for the screen,
16 Armless, straight-backed, flat-bottomed cushioned chairs
2 Adjustable padded cello chairs or adjustable padded piano benches
1 Stool for bass player, not less than 2’-4”
1 - 2 Staircase(s) into the audience; used during the performance Either 1 staircase with center aisle; or 2 staircases for SR and SL aisles
1 Single Manual Baroque Style harpsichord 415hz pitch - with bench please see specifications sheet below
1 Armchair - upholstered back and seat - will supply sample picture
1 wooden writing table - 30" high -will supply sample picture
the screen frame legs require 200 lbs. of stage weight. Please confirm weight options and availability with Tafelmusik’s Technical Director.
3) STAGE DIMENSIONS:
Approximately: 30’-0” x 30’-0”. A minimum clearance height of 18’-0” is required for the screen.
PROVIDED BY PRESENTER: Please provide a ground plan of both stage and audience seating. This will allow Tafelmusik to work more effectively with the Presenter/Venue in pre-tour preparations.
4) LIGHTING:
A major requirement of the show is the use of theatrical lighting. A lighting plot comprised of a minimum of 40 - 55 theatrical lighting fixtures is required to realize this design. At least 24 of these fixtures need to be Lekos, while the remainder should be Fresnels or Par fixtures.The movement of the orchestra and actor require many different looks; a Lighting Designer travels with Tafelmusik to supervise the hang and focus of lights for each venue.
Tafelmusik will call and run the lighting cues on a Tafelmusik supplied laptop, using Light Factory software. DMX protocol is necessary to use our console.
PROVIDED BY TAFELMUSIK: Tafelmusik travels with a Lenovo Thinkpad Edge and a DMX-USB converter for Light Factory software. All gel colours and gobos
PROVIDED BY PRESENTER: In order to prepare lighting and projector placement in advance, the presenter is asked to provide a scale diagram of the house lighting plot; a list of all available lighting instruments; number of dimmers; and make and model of the lighting console.
The lighting design has certain requirements but is adaptable to every venue. A dialogue
between the Tafelmusik Lighting Designer and the Venue Technical Director is highly recommended, once the house plot and inventory list has been received by Tafelmusik.
5) SOUND: PROVIDED BY PRESENTER: Sound system for full theatrical presentation:
⁃ One (1) wireless lavalier mic, transmitter, receiver and mic (MKEII headset type and
style, tan colour) for narrator. Level will be set during the rehearsal. No onstage monitors necessary. The mic is turned on at the top of the show and turned off at the end.
⁃ One (1) microphone, with on/off switch on microphone stand (for announcements from
the stage, only if needed by the Presenter)
To be discussed with Venue Technical Director/LightingDesigner:
If venue does not have a built-in sound system, please discuss options with Tafelmusik’s Technical Director
6) VIDEO:
Another major component of the show is the use of video projection
PROVIDED BY TAFELMUSIK: Tafelmusik travels with its own screen(outlined above); and a Christie LX700 3-chip DLP projector; and 2 lenses (2.4-4.3,4.3-6.0). The projector does not require audio support.
Tafelmusik travels with a Macbook laptop with Mini DV output to VGA requiring a single 110v, 15 amp, surge-protected and fully isolated U-Ground wall jack. In a country with standard 220v, the above applies with 220v being substituted.
Tafelmusik's technician will run the projection cues, as well as the lighting cues using live-video Isadora software.
To be discussed with Tafelmusik’s Technical Director: Projector placement and throw distance.
Should space, time or logistics be, or become, an issue: Tafelmusik requests use of an in-house video screen(s), at the Presenter’s expense. Minimum dimensions for screen rental are 12’ H x 16’ W.
7) SCHEDULING/CREW REQUIREMENTS:
LOAD-IN/SET-UP: For load-in/set-up, Tafelmusik requires a minimum of 4 hours for lighting, and 2 hours for staging/set, audio and video prior to the orchestra rehearsal/warm-up. The following crew calls are recommended:
Lighting (min. 4 hours):
⁃ One (1) Head Lighting Technician (Lighting Board Programmer/Operator);
⁃ Two (2) Lighting Technicians to hang and focus
Staging, Set, Audio & Video (min. 2 hours): -One (1) Head Stage Carpenter; additional crew needs to be discussed with Tafelmusik’s
Technical Director -One (1) Stage Carpenter -One (1) Head Sound Technician -One (1) Video Technician
REHEARSAL/WARM-UP, CONCERT & STRIKE:
⁃ One (1) Lighting Technician
⁃ One (1) Audio Technician
⁃ One (1) Video Technician
⁃ One (1) Stage Manager (usually the Head Stage Carpenter)
Crew calls and schedule vary from venue to venue depending on the venue capabilities; please discuss scheduling with Tafelmusik’s Technical Director.
8) TEMPERATURE of hall between 68ºF (20ºC) and 70ºF (21ºC).
B: BACKSTAGE REQUIREMENTS
PROVIDED BY PRESENTER/VENUE:
1) DRESSING ROOMS: Adequate dressing rooms / practise rooms to accommodate full orchestra, all with access to washrooms and including:
⁃ Two (2) large rooms for Orchestra Men and Women
⁃ One (1) room for Music Director
⁃ One (1) room for Narrator
⁃ One (1) Green Room (rest area) .
1) BEVERAGES/SNACKS:
Coffee, assorted teas, non-carbonated bottled water, hospitality food tray (including fresh fruit (thoroughly washed), cookies, sweets) for 23 persons.
Tafelmusik requests the above be in place and refreshed:
⁃ At the start of rehearsal
⁃ Between rehearsal and the performance
⁃ At the intermission
C: HARPSICHORD
PROVIDED BY PRESENTER/VENUE: Please complete and return harpsichord specification sheet (page 6) to Tafelmusik’s Technical Director.
⁃ Instrument in good working order, pitched at Baroque Pitch (a=415 Hz); OR transposing from Modern Pitch
(a=440 Hz) to Baroque Pitch (a=415 Hz); OR tuned to Baroque Pitch (a= 415hz) 24 hours in advance of the performance.
⁃ Instrument must be in the hall at least 12 hours prior to the concert to acclimatize.
D: TIMINGS/MEALS
1) TIMINGS:
The performance timings are as follows (approximate timings only): Part I 45 min. Intermission 20 min.
Part II 40 min. Total 1 hour, 45 min.
1) MEALS: If the orchestra’s travel, rehearsal and/or performance span a meal period, Tafelmusik requests a substantial meal be provided for 23 persons in the Green Room or appropriate dining area upon arrival, or at a mutually-agreeable time.
E: REHEARSAL/CONCERT NEEDS
Tafelmusik requests a three (3)-hour rehearsal on the day of the performance to begin six (6) hours prior to the performance; OR a warm-up of 90 minutes may be scheduled immediately before the performance, but ending at least 30 minutes prior to the performance time.
1) Access from backstage to lobby is necessary during the performance, without going outside or through the audience.
F: COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS Tafelmusik requests ten (10) complimentary tickets for use at its discretion; additional tickets are subject to mutual agreement. A name list or notification of ticket release will be submitted in a timely manner.
G: PROGRAMME CREDITS/SPONSORSHIP RECOGNITION
1) Option to include credit(s) and logo(s) on the program page of the presenter’s house program, for Tafelmusik’s government and tour sponsors. Exact wording/logo files to be submitted for inclusion in the house program by:
___________________ (Presenter, please specify date)
1) Option to place signage in the lobby stating "Tafelmusik on Tour, sponsored by [Sponsor's Name]". Signs will be provided by Tafelmusik.
1) Option to have receptions in the hall before or after the concert
Concert Date and Time:
Location:
Street Address:
Presenter:
Presenter - please initial & date:
Please complete and return by fax to: Glenn Davidson – 416.995.3667, or email to
427 Bloor Street West, Box 14, Toronto ON CANADA M5S 1X7 Tel: 416-964-9562 Fax: 416-964-2782
Harpsichord Specification Sheet
It is essential that the performance harpsichord be an historical copy, not a modern style instrument.Builders considered
UNACCEPTABLE include Sassmann, Neupert, Sabathil, etc. One or two manualswill be accepted. The instrument must
be tuned in the correct pitch at least 24 hours in advance of the firstservice for which it is required. The preferred
temperament is Valotti or one similar.
1 Maker:
2 Year:
3 Style:
4 Range:
5 Manuals (one or two):
6 Please check one: Transposing from A = 440 hz to A = 415 hz Pitched at A = 415. Temperament is Valotti.
Tuned to A = 415 hz 24 hours prior
7 Are you able to provide a tuner? If not, please provide the proper tuning hammer
8 The required pitch is: A = 415 hz Concert Date:
Location:
Presenter:
Representative of Presenter please sign and fax to Tafelmusik attn. Operations Department:
Signature Title Date
Booking Information
Canada:
Beth Anderson
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
Toronto +1 416-964-9562
USA:
Amy Carson-Dwyer & Lee Prinz
Colbert Artists Management Inc.
New York +1 212-757-0782
Asia, Australia, South & Central America, New Zealand:
Barbara Scales
Latitude 45 Arts Promotion Inc.
Montreal +1 514-276-2694