I was extremely sorry to learn yesterday of the death of Jeanne Lamon.
Lamon was probably best-known as music director of Tafelmusik, the Toronto-based Baroque orchestra she directed for 33 years. In fact, so associated had she been with the Canadian cultural scene, I was surprised to learn, a number of years ago, that she was actually born in New York City. She didn’t move to Toronto until 1981. It was in 1988 that she became a Canadian citizen.
Lamon taught at the University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory of Music. Among her honors, she was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in 2000. She was also made a member or the Order of Ontario in 2014. 2014 was the year she stepped down from her directorship of Tafelmusik to pursue other projects, recording, performing, and touring as a solo violinist. But she remained connected to the group, traveling the globe with the orchestra as part of its “Galileo Project” and gracing its promotional material as Music Director Emerita.
Her records with Tafelmusik vastly enriched my appreciation of music of the Baroque and Classical Eras. A number of them are still among my favorites. I am particularly fond of her collaborations with Anner Bylsma, who recorded cello concertos by Boccherini, Haydn, and Anton Kraft. Looking back on these, recorded now some thirty years ago, it is difficult to comprehend the passage of time.
Lamon was 71 years-old. R.I.P.
CBC obituary, with performance videos:
https://www.cbc.ca/music/jeanne-lamon-violinist-and-former-tafelmusik-director-dead-at-71-1.5926256
