TAFELMUSIK NAMES NEW MUSIC DIRECTOR:
VIOLINIST ELISA CITTERIO
Toronto, January 26, 2017 … Helen Polatajko, Chair of the Board of Directors of Tafelmusik
Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir, is thrilled to announce the appointment of the “superb”
(The Guardian) Italian violinist Elisa Citterio* to the position of Music Director. The unanimous
choice of the orchestra and search committee, Citterio is renowned for her stunning virtuoso
performances on baroque violin and her innovative approach to period performance. She
succeeds Jeanne Lamon, whose remarkable 33-year tenure paved the way for Tafelmusik to
become “one of the world’s top baroque orchestras” (Gramophone).
Milan-based Citterio immediately becomes Tafelmusik’s Music Director Designate and will fully
assume her new role in July 2017, taking up full-time residence in Toronto along with her family.
She divides her artistic life between orchestral work, including her former role as concertmaster
and soloist with the orchestra of the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, and an intense
schedule as a chamber musician.
Citterio has recorded and toured, often as leader or concertmaster, with such ensembles as Dolce
& Tempesta, Europa Galante, Accademia Bizantina, Accordone, Zefiro, la Venexiana, La
Risonanza, Ensemble 415, Concerto Italiano, Orquestra del Monsalvat, Il Giardino Armonico, and
Orchestra Academia 1750. She has been a member of the Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di
Milano since 2004.
Elisa collaborates closely with harpsichordist Stefano Demicheli in duo, and with violinist Stefano
Montanari in their quartet, Estravagante, and will perform with both artists in Italy this summer.
Upcoming highlights include concerts with Cecilia Bartoli, and a solo recital of Bach violin sonatas
and partitas in Merano, Italy.
“After an extensive worldwide search, the musicians of Tafelmusik are delighted to welcome Elisa
Citterio as our next Music Director. We have all found the search process to be an incredibly
rewarding experience, enabling us to work with many of the world's finest musicians in our field,”
said Tafelmusik oboist John Abberger. “Elisa is an outstanding violinist who combines great
virtuosity with deep musical knowledge and a warm and dynamic personality on stage. She
immediately established an exceptional rapport with the orchestra, and the musicians are thrilled
to have found such an inspiring and collaborative leader,” he said.
"It is with immense joy and excitement that I accept the position of Music Director of the
extraordinary Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir. First of all, I would like to give
my heartfelt thanks to the entire Tafelmusik organization for the faith it has placed in me, and I'd
especially like to thank Jeanne Lamon for her tremendous artistic leadership over the past three
decades,” said Elisa Citterio.
“I'm incredibly honoured to take on this role, which gives me the privilege of working with such
brilliant musicians. I'm fascinated by the possibility of exchange between our two countries,
which are geographically distant, but which music unites through a shared language. I love the
fact that we will be able to learn from each other and intertwine our distinct cultures and music
without the need for words. I look forward to working with Canadian musicians and composers,
and am eager to get to know Tafelmusik’s audiences in Toronto and on tour,” she said.
As Music Director, Citterio will be responsible for Tafelmusik’s overall artistic leadership including
concert planning, touring, recording, education, and artist training. With a keen interest in
contemporary compositions for period instruments, Citterio will continue Tafelmusik’s
commitment to working with Canadian musicians and composers.
“The appointment of Elisa Citterio is a truly pivotal moment for Tafelmusik. It heralds the start of
an exciting new chapter for us, as only the second Music Director in the orchestra’s 38-year
history, and following the incredible legacy left for her by Jeanne Lamon,” said Managing Director
William Norris. “The search was an exciting and invigorating process, and confirmed the
reputation that Tafelmusik holds not just at home, but internationally. Elisa joins us at a time
when we are seeking to further expand our reach, through attracting new audiences at home
and also internationally through our busy touring schedule. Her artistic vision, dynamism,
charisma, and collaborative approach are the perfect fit for us, and we can’t wait to have her
start with us.”
Elisa Citterio made her Tafelmusik debut as guest director and violin soloist in November 2015
with Baroque Masters, a program that explored Italian, French, and German 18th-century musical
styles. She was immediately invited to return, and in September 2016 directed the opening
concerts of Tafelmusik’s 2016/17 season at Koerner Hall. The program featured Handel’s Water
Music and orchestral movements from Rameau’s opera-ballet Les indes galantes. The
performance was hailed as “stylish, playful and filled with the spirit of movement, light and
pleasure” (The Globe and Mail).
Tafelmusik’s formal selection process began in early 2013 and was undertaken by a committee
consisting of Tafelmusik musicians, board members, administrative staff, and community
representatives under the guidance of international search consultant Margaret Genovese of the
Toronto-based firm Genovese, Vanderhoof & Associates. Together they lay the groundwork for
the appointment of a music director who is an international-calibre soloist specializing in period
performance and a leader who directs the orchestra while playing. Over a three-year period, the
search committee identified potential candidates from Canada and beyond and invited
suggestions from the public, as well as from a wide range of baroque music experts.
Andy Kenins, head of the Search Committee and past Chair of Tafelmusik’s Board of Directors
said, “Tafelmusik’s artist-focused mandate and commitment to excellence and innovation have
been of paramount importance throughout the painstaking process that led to Elisa’s
appointment. Succession planning has been in the works for many years, and for the past decade
Tafelmusik has been working with a wide range of Canadian and international guest directors in
order to build the musicians’ flexibility and offer them the opportunity to explore a variety of
different musical and personal styles,” he said. “Elisa brings exceptional leadership skills. She is
an original and innovative thinker who has a remarkable ability to convey new ideas through
music.”
Under the artistic leadership of Jeanne Lamon from 1981 to 2014, Tafelmusik has become one
of Canada’s most successful international performing arts organizations. She recently assumed
the role of Music Director Emerita and will continue to maintain an active role with the
Orchestra, including appearances in Tafelmusik’s Toronto season and involvement in Artist
Training programs such as the Summer and Winter Institutes.
Ms. Lamon hailed the appointment of Elisa Citterio, saying, “I have always maintained that the
position of Music Director of Tafelmusik is the best job in the world, and I congratulate Elisa on
her appointment. Attracting a music director of her calibre will greatly contribute to the artistic
development of our musicians, and with Elisa at the helm, I’m excited and confident about
Tafelmusik's future. I am truly proud of what Tafelmusik has become, honoured to have been a
part of such a wonderful group of musicians, and delighted to pass the torch on to Elisa."
Ms. Polatajko added, “Tafelmusik's vision is to be an international centre of musical excellence
in period performance, and it is one of the top orchestras of its kind that performs, tours, records,
and trains, reaching out to audiences throughout Canada and beyond. I would like to thank the
Search Committee, whose painstaking work over the past three years has resulted in the
appointment of Elisa Citterio — a musician and leader with a wide range of top-tier experience
in solo performance, chamber music, orchestral repertoire, and opera, as well as artist training.
Her international reputation is a real asset to the orchestra’s future development in these areas.
Finally, we are incredibly grateful to Jeanne Lamon for more than three decades of magnificent
work as Music Director.”
Toronto audiences will have the opportunity to see Elisa Citterio in concert May 4 to 7, 2017,
when she returns to direct Tafelmusik’s debut performances of Haydn’s Symphony no. 98 in Bflat Major at Koerner Hall — part of the Mozart Mass in C Minor concerts that close the 2016/17
season.
*Pronunciation guide: Citterio [chee TEH ree oh]
ABOUT ELISA CITTERIO
“This is a musician who thinks.” —The Globe and Mail
“Uccellini's Bergamasca showcased the group's [Concerto Italiano] superb violinists, Elisa
Citterio and Nicholas Robinson, who traded their lines with the loose spontaneity of folk
fiddlers.” —The Guardian
“The performance by first violinist Elisa Citterio, lutenist Tiziano Bagnati, and cellist Marco
Frezzato was a masterclass in how to play together.” — translated from Classic Voice
"Elisa Citterio ... tackled the endlessly unfolding, seemingly unstoppable invention of Uccellini's
Bergamasca with infectious enthusiasm." — The Scotsman
“There was no mistaking the electricity of the occasion, generated by Elisa Citterio, violin, and –
at least for tonight—the leader of the orchestra. The chemistry I saw and heard and felt is surely
something Tafelmusik will want to experience again.” — Barcza Blog
“From the outset, it was apparent that both Citterio and the Tafelmusik Orchestra
were simpatico.” —Eatock Daily
“She brought energy and joy to each of the works on the program inspiring brilliant ensemble
playing by our world renowned baroque orchestra. Her own playing in solo passages was
stunningly beautiful.” —Toronto Concert Reviews
Elisa Citterio was born in Brescia, Italy, in 1975 and grew up in a musical family: her mother and
brother are composers and her two sisters are professional musicians. Elisa began playing piano
and violin as a pre-schooler, and as a teenager played baroque sonatas with her mother and
sister. At sixteen she began formal studies in violin and viola at the L. Marenzio Conservatory in
Brescia under full scholarship for five consecutive years. During her time at the Conservatory, she
won many prizes in national competitions and graduated with the highest honours. She
continued her post-graduate studies with Franco Gulli, Corrado Romano, Dora Schwarzberg,
Matis Vaitsner, Ilya Grubert, and Dejan Bogdanovich.
In 2000, Citterio was selected as concertmaster and soloist with the orchestra of the Accademia
del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, where she received intensive professional training in orchestral
and chamber music repertoire, as well as violin technique. She made her debut at La Scala in
2000, playing the solo violin part in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with La Scala’s principal violist
Danilo Rossi, under the direction of Stefano Ranzani.
Soon after graduating from the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, she began studying
baroque violin technique, taking part in master classes with Enrico Onofri and studying with
Chiara Banchini at the Schola Chantorum Basilensis, and with Luigi Mangiocavallo in Rome.
Between 2000 and 2004, Citterio won numerous prestigious orchestral auditions with such
orchestras as I Virtuosi, the orchestra of the Opera of Rome, the orchestra of the Arena of Verona,
and the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Riccardo Muti. In 2004,
she became a member of the Orchestra of La Scala di Milano.
Citterio’s discography of more than 35 recordings includes Vivaldi concertos with Accademia I
Filarmonici; Bach and Vivaldi concertos with Europa Galante; Handel Fireworks with Zefiro; Storie
di Napoli with Accordone; Vivaldi The Four Seasons with Brixia Musicalis; Marini sonatas for solo
violin with Opera Prima; Handel arias featuring soprano Sandrine Piau, and Corelli concerti grossi,
both with Accademia Bizantina; the Goldberg Project, a recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations
transcribed for string quartet; Handel arias featuring Julia Lezhnieva, and Haydn symphonies,
both with Il Giardino Armonico; Monteverdi madrigals with La Venexiana; Schuster quartets with
Joachim Quartet; C.P.E. Bach trio sonatas with Helianthus Ensemble; Beethoven's Eroica
Symphony with Orquestra del Monsalvat, and a number of opera recordings with the Orchestra
e Coro del Teatro alla Scala under such conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Chailly, Edward
Gardner, Daniele Gatti, Daniel Harding, Lorin Maazel, and Riccardo Muti.
For the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons, together with Stefano Montanari, Citterio co-chaired the
baroque violin studies program at the Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado in Milan.
ABOUT TAFELMUSIK
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, founded in 1979, is one of the world’s leading period
performance ensembles. In January 2017 the orchestra appointed violinist Elisa Citterio as Music
Director, succeeding Jeanne Lamon, who stepped down in 2014 following a remarkable 33-year
tenure that began in 1981. Lamon continues her association with Tafelmusik as Music Director
Emerita. The Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, under the direction of Ivars Taurins, was formed in 1981
to complement the Orchestra. The orchestra performs some 80 concerts each year at home in
Toronto, and travels extensively around the world. The choir and orchestra’s multi-platform
recording label Tafelmusik Media was launched in January 2012, along with the Watch and Listen
site. Tafelmusik’s discography of 80-plus CDs has been recorded on the Sony Classical, CBC
Records, Analekta and Tafelmusik Media labels. Since 1991, Tafelmusik has received nine JUNO
Awards and a Grammy Award nomination. Tafelmusik is the Baroque Orchestra-in-Residence at
the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto and operates annual artist training programs,
Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute and Tafelmusik Winter Institute. Managing Director
William Norris joined the Tafelmusik team in 2015.
2016/17 SEASON PARTNERS
Tafelmusik wishes to thank the following for their generous support: BMO Financial Group, RBC
Foundation, TD Bank Group, John and Margaret Catto, Margaret and Jim Fleck, Great West Life,
London Life, Canada Life, Hal Jackman Foundation, KPMG, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario
Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Classical 96.3 FM and NOW Magazine. Tafelmusik is a proud
partner of the Bloor St. Culture Corridor.
Media contact:
Luisa Trisi, Media Relations Manager, (416) 456-0499 | [email protected]
www.tafelmusik.org | 427 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, M5S 1X7
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High‐resolution photos of Elisa Citterio and Tafelmusik are available for download at
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