Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra

The Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (also known as Tafelmusik) is a Canadian baroque orchestra specializing in early music. They often perform with choir and play on period instruments.

The orchestra was founded in 1979 by oboist Kenneth Solway and bassoonist Susan Graves. Violinist Jeanne Lamon has been its musical director since 1981 but she stepped down as Music Director of Tafelmusik in June, 2014, and is currently serving as the Chief Artistic Advisor until the next Music Director is chosen. She will continue to perform and tour with the orchestra in a reduced capacity.

The orchestra has 19 full-time members who specialize in historical performance and technique, with additional musicians joining the ensemble when required.

The Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, under the direction of Ivars Taurins, was formed in 1981 to complement the orchestra.

Tafelmusik performs over 50 concerts for its subscription season at its home venue in Trinity-St. Paul's United Church, a historic church in the Annex neighbourhood of Toronto, with selected performances at the 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. They have also collaborated with Opera Atelier.

Its annual Messiah and Sing Along Messiah have become very popular events during Toronto's Christmas season.

The orchestra tours about twelve weeks each year across Canada, the United States, and Europe. It has also toured in the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan, as well as Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Greece.

From 1993 to 2011, Tafelmusik was orchestra in residence at the German Klang und Raum Festival in the small village of Irsee in Bavaria.

The University of Toronto Faculty of Music has partnered with Tafelmusik and appointed the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra as its Baroque Orchestra in Residence.

In 2002 the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute was created to provide pre-professional and professional musicians with a unique training programme in instrumental and vocal baroque performance practice. The institute is a two-week program consisting of masterclasses, private lessons, choral and orchestral rehearsals and small ensemble work. Tafelmusik also runs the Tafelmusik Winter Institute, a one-week intensive training program launched in 2013.

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