Elisa Citterio, Music Director
Conceived, scripted, and programmed by Alison Mackay
Alon Nashman, narrator
Tafelmusik’s groundbreaking multimedia fusion of European and Arabic music returns.
Alison Mackay’s musical vision of the links between 18th-century Saxony and Syria became one of the most cherished and talked-about projects in Tafelmusik’s history when it was first seen in 2016. Now it returns for our 40th anniversary season, reuniting musicians from Western and Arabic traditions in a magical, moving multimedia concert.
Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damscus Coffee House celebrates the rich musical traditions of East and West, and the renewed dialogue between those traditions in contemporary, multicultural Toronto. As Handel and Telemann meet traditional Arabic song and Klezmer fiddle music, your musical perspectives will never be the same again.
With Trio Arabica:
Maryem Tollar, vocalist & kanun
Naghmeh Farahmand, percussion
Demetri Petsalakis, oud
Marshall Pynkoski, stage director
Glenn Davidson, production designer
Raha Javanfar, projections designer
Program includes:
- Jean-Baptiste Lully: Chaconne from Cadmus and Hermione, LWV 49
- Georg Philipp Telemann: Burlesque de Don Quixote, TWV 55:G10
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Sinfonia in G Major, BWV 796
- Traditional Arabic music
Join us for a free pre-concert chat before the show with show creator Alison Mackay and special guests.
Saturday ticket-holders: Stay after the concert for a special Talkback with a panel of musicians. Have your questions ready!
Tales of Two Cities was developed in partnership with Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, Queen’s University, Kingston, in collaboration with the Aga Khan Museum, and is generously supported by The Pluralism Fund and by a gift from an anonymous benefactor.