A hard act to follow
After 33 years, Tafelmusik artistic director Jeanne Lamon is retiring
The first time Marshall Pynkoski saw Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra perform, he thought it didn’t have a leader.
Gradually, the artistic director of Opera Atelier (which now has Tafelmusik play for its productions) noticed the musicians were frequently glancing at one of the violinists.
“Eventually, we realized that the program was indeed being led and shaped,” says Pynkoski of Jeanne Lamon, artistic director of the orchestra.
Although “leading from within” is true to baroque tradition, it also sits well with Lamon.
“I’m a little bit shy. You can be a leader and an introvert at the same time,” the violinist says, adding, “It’s more comfortable for me knowing the audience is looking at everybody.”
Lamon may avoid the limelight but she is a towering
“I’m a little bit shy. You can be a leader and an introvert at the same time.” JEANNE LAMON
presence in the world of baroque music and Toronto’s classical scene.
Lamon, 64, is going to be centre stage in a series of congratulatory concerts beginning May 8, in the hall named after her at Trinity-St. Paul’s Church, and a special release of the CD The Baroque Virtuoso in which she is featured.
Lamon is about to retire as artistic director. Replacing her is not an easy task, admits James Fleck, a major donor and member of the search committee, who calls Lamon “a superstar.”
He jokes that it’s a little bit like trying to replace the man who is shot out of a canon in the circus — “People of (her) calibre are hard to find.”
She has personally shaped the organization to reflect her values of collaboration, inclusion, artistic excellence and accountability.
Under her 33-year leadership, the orchestra has grown from a small chamber ensemble to a 17-member orchestra that travels the world to acclaim.
It has recorded more than 80 records, formed its own production company and established an academy to train young baroque musicians. As well as accomplishing a budget surplus for13 straight years, it has run a successful $3-million fundraising campaign to renovate Tafelmusik’s concert hall — the sanctuary of Trinity-St. Paul’s Church.
All this has led to many honours for Lamon, described as “a toweringly influential figure in the musical life of Canada” by the Canada Council for the Arts.
She was named a member of the Order of Ontario this year and recently received the Early Music America’s Howard Mayer Brown Award for lifetime achievement in the field of early music.
When her successor is chosen, Lamon will devote herself to the Tafelmusik International Baroque Academy and the Jean Lamon Young Artist Fund to train future baroque musicians.
“I’d like to know when I die, this (Tafelmusik) is going to continue,” Lamon says. “It is my legacy.”
Her success lays in her inclusiveness, those who know her say, which means all of the musicians and staff at Tafelmusik have a voice in what is going on. But it is also how she leads her life.
Friend Lynda Katsuno is in a wheelchair following a car accident. She was singing in the “pick up choir” that Tafelmusik had in the early days.
When she offered to drive her own adapted car, rather than travel on the bus with the orchestra during a tour of northern Ontario in the middle of winter, Lamon would have none of it. Orchestra members lifted her into and out of the bus and she merrily joined the gang at the back “drinking white wine and playing cards — that made me feel real good.” They also carried her on and off raised stages which, although not a “pretty sight,” meant she could be included in all performances. Lamon and her partner, cellist Christina Mahler, had a custom- made ramp constructed for their home and bought a pontoon boat to transport Katsuno to their cottage. “Inclusivity is one of her mantras and not just me as her friend but all the people,” says Katsuno. At Tafelmusik, “Jeanne has always made sure everybody participates,” says managing director Tricia Baldwin, who has worked with Lamon for 14 years. “She asks everyone, what do we need to do? Everyone owns the process.” Violinist Julie Wedman, who joined the Tafelmusik family in 2005, says, “Everyone feels they are part of something special.” Because it is a small orchestra, all of the members know each other well and some perform in off shoot groups together, she says. “We begin to read each other’s mind. It is a remarkably happy environment.” Lamon treasures relationships and, when the orchestra went on a “church crawl” to find a location with better acoustics, accessibility and comfortable seats, she opted to stay with Trinity-St. Paul’s and fundraise for upgrades. The renovated church with its new comfy seats, wooden floors and sound baffles has wowed the orchestra. “We have a good relationship with the congregation. We value that a lot. You wouldn’t throw that away,” Lamon says, adding the venue “was good before, now it’s great.”
A1981 photo shows Lamon smiling on the church steps with the other musicians, when she arrived to take over the fledgling group from its founders.
That “disarming smile and beatific stage presence” defines Lamon, says Neil Crory, former senior music producer at CBC in a prepared statement.
Orchestra members talk about the way Lamon, when faced with disaster, is consumed with laughter on stage.
The worse things get, says Wedman, the harder Lamon laughs, tears streaming down her face — although Lamon says she’s much better than she used to be, and that “cracking up” is a failing she has worked to repair.
Claire Grimaud, artistic director of Arion Baroque Orchestra in Montreal who has done many projects with Lamon, says, “She has taken a young thing, not well known, all over the world. She has the fibre of an entrepreneur.”
She adds, “It really is her baby. It is something that nourishes her.”
Although Lamon has taken many guest conductor gigs and will do more in the future, she admits to never thinking about life away from Tafelmusik. “I can’t imagine not being here,” she says. A Celebration of Jeanne Lamon takes place at Trinity-St. Paul’s Church, Jeanne Lamon Hall, May 8, 9, 10, 11, 14 and George Weston Hall, May 13. For details, go to tafelmusik.org