September 27, 2024 – May 25, 2025
Various Toronto Locations
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra & Chamber Choir is set to captivate audiences once again with its highly anticipated 2024-2025 season. Renowned for its historically informed performances, Tafelmusik brings the richness of Baroque music to life, blending impeccable artistry with a deep connection to the works of masters like Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi. This season promises a dynamic lineup of both well-loved classics and innovative collaborations, offering something for both longtime fans and newcomers to the Baroque tradition.
Highlights of the season include a series of captivating performances that explore Baroque masterpieces, paired with special guest artists and ensembles from around the world. Audiences can look forward to thrilling orchestral concerts, intimate chamber performances, and the ethereal sound of the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, all performed in stunning venues across Toronto. Whether it’s a beloved work from the Baroque era or a modern interpretation, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra 2024-2025 season promises to continue Tafelmusik’s tradition of excellence, bringing timeless music to contemporary audiences.
2024-2025 Season
September 27 – 29, 2024
Mozart Jupiter
Koerner Hall, TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning
https://tafelmusik.org/concerts-events/concerts/mozart-jupiter
Be among the first to welcome Tafelmusik’s new Principal Guest Director, violinist Rachel Podger, in our all-Mozart season opener. 2024/25 Season begins with a piece of buried treasure that is new for both Podger and Tafelmusik—the incidental music for Thamos, King of Egypt. Mozart’s love for the theatre shines throughout the work, which vividly mirrors the play’s dramatic arc while foreshadowing the brilliant lyricism of his final opera, The Magic Flute. Podger then follows her striking 2023 performance of Mozart’s Violin Concerto no.1 with the charming Concerto no.2 in D Major.
October 18 – 20, 2024
Feast for the Senses: Lalande & Rameau
Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre
https://tafelmusik.org/concerts-events/concerts/feast-for-the-senses
Savour the multi-layered subtleties of French baroque music with Amandine Beyer. Though almost a decade has passed since the Tafelmusik debut of French violinist Amandine Beyer, the impact of her “majestic, gossamer, hypnotic” playing (Le Monde) continues to resonate deeply. For her highly anticipated return to our stage, Beyer has crafted a musical menu with a predominantly French flavour, evoking the elegance and grandeur of Versailles and Paris.
November 22 – 24, 2024
Bach Christmas Oratorio
Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre
https://tafelmusik.org/concerts-events/concerts/bach-christmas-oratorio
Ring in the Yuletide season with a jubilant burst of music by Bach. Last performed by Tafelmusik in 2015, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio bears the unmistakable hallmark of the composer’s genius. The enduring story of Jesus’ birth unfolds in a sequence of energetic choruses, richly harmonized chorales, and poetic arias, while the tenor Evangelist provides a continuous narrative arc. A full range of Bach’s orchestral colours is punctuated by jubilant trumpets and timpani.
December 20 – 21, 2024
Handel Messiah
Koerner Hall, TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning
https://tafelmusik.org/concerts-events/concerts/handel-messiah-24
Hallelujah! Handel’s Messiah makes the season even brighter. It just wouldn’t be the holiday season without Tafelmusik’s Messiah! Performed in the style and spirit of Handel’s own productions, Tafelmusik’s Messiah “radiates brilliance and energy, along with an emotional depth that fully enhances the work’s expression” (AllMusic). Messiah’s core message of goodwill, hope, and humanity resounds as eloquently today as its premiere in 1742.
December 22, 2024
Sing-Along Messiah
Massey Hall
https://tafelmusik.org/concerts-events/concerts/sing-along-messiah-24
Mr. Handel is coming to town! As he’s done for almost four decades, George himself will be directing Sing-Along Messiah and is sure to have some tricks up his voluminous baroque sleeves. It’s the first Sing-Along in the newly renovated Massey Hall, and you can be among the 2,000 audience members gathered to “raise the roof” in Handel’s bracing choruses. Join a glittering cast of soloists and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir in this joyous and unforgettable experience.
January 31 – February 2, 2025
Brilliant Baroque
Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre
https://tafelmusik.org/concerts-events/concerts/brilliant-baroque
Rachel Podger and Tafelmusik ignite the quintessential spirit of the baroque in this program of music by Bach, Handel, Purcell and others. Three continents meet when Tafelmusik and Rachel Podger take the works of European masters on tour to Asia before bringing them home to our Toronto audience.
February 21 – 23, 2025
Triple Espresso: Bach, Handel & Fasch
Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre
https://tafelmusik.org/concerts-events/concerts/triple-espresso
Oboe lovers, rejoice! The “sublime” (Gramophone) Italian oboist Alfredo Bernardini returns to our stage with a high-octane program devoted to the music of Bach and his contemporaries. This hand-picked selection includes a trio of works sharing striking orchestral textures: Tafelmusik’s premiere performance of the Concerto in B-flat Major for three violins and three oboes by Telemann, the playfully inventive Suite in G Minor for three oboes by Fasch, and the celebrated Suite in D Major by Bach.
March 7 – 9, 2025
Baroque & Folk: Purcell to Poland
Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre
https://tafelmusik.org/concerts-events/concerts/baroque-folk
Slovakian violinist Miloš Valent is renowned for his deep curiosity about the intersections between baroque and folk music traditions. He believes that “music is the unique and universal language of humankind, and music-making is enriched as it reaches beyond tribe and clan. When musicians meet at the crossroads, unexpected new creativity is unleashed, rewarding not only the performers, but those who listen and partake.”
March 28 – 30, 2025
Choral Splendours: Bach & Zelenka
Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre
https://tafelmusik.org/concerts-events/concerts/bach-zelenka
Amongst the composers Bach most admired was the Bohemian composer Jan Dismas Zelenka. It was a mutual admiration that was enriched by friendship. This program celebrates that friendship, pairing a selection of lesser-known, intimate gems from Bach’s Lutheran cantatas with an extravagant Catholic mass by Zelenka.
May 2 – 4, 2025
Concerti Virtuosi: Vivaldi & Telemann
Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre
https://tafelmusik.org/concerts-events/concerts/concerti-virtuosi
Tafelmusik’s extraordinary musicians step into the spotlight with Principal Guest Director Rachel Podger. In this dynamic showcase of Tafelmusik’s artistry, Rachel Podger and members of the orchestra flex their musical muscles as soloists in a bouquet of concertos that highlight the violin, cello, recorder, oboe, and bassoon.
May 23 – 25, 2025
Samuel Mariño at the Opera: Bologne & Mozart
Koerner Hall, TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning
https://tafelmusik.org/concerts-events/concerts/samuel-marino
Samuel Mariño wraps up our 2024/25 Season on a high note. Considered the world’s rarest voice type, the male soprano sound defies categorization. Those who witnessed the Tafelmusik debut of Samuel Mariño in 2023 will never forget the sheer thrill of his artistry, his “lyric instincts…and sincere emotional investment in the musical material” (Ludwig van Toronto). We are delighted to welcome Samuel back to join the orchestra for an operatic tour de force at Koerner Hall.
ABOUT TAFELMUSIK
Every now and then a group of musicians comes along and changes the way we think about music. For over four decades, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra has been synonymous worldwide with dynamic, engaging, and soulful performances informed by scholarship, passion, and artistic excellence. Performed on instruments and in styles appropriate to the era, 17th- to 19th-century instrumental and choral music share the stage with exciting multimedia programs, bold new commissions, and intriguing cross-cultural collaborations. From a vibrant home season in Toronto to international tours, award-winning recordings, and inspiring education programs, Tafelmusik is a musical powerhouse with a reputation for thrilling and delighting audiences
