It’s no wonder so many of Mackay’s creations have been performed for audiences around the world—there’s really nothing like them” (The Globe and Mail). 

A pinnacle of our 45th-anniversary season is Staircases, a new creation by Alison Mackay, whose award-winning multimedia programs have enhanced Tafelmusik’s reputation for artistic innovation. The concert is designed in collaboration with the acclaimed American bass-baritone and composer Jonathan Woody, who acts as narrator, singer, and creator of a new work. 

Through words, stunning images, and music by Lully, Purcell, Handel, Platti, Bach, Vivaldi, and Woody directed from the violin by Tafelmusik’s Julia Wedman, the program explores journeys on staircases and the concepts they represented. 

In the age of baroque music, staircases were scenes of dramatic ceremony, public piety, and colourful urban commerce. So much more than architectural conveniences, they became theatres of power, markers of status, settings for musical performances, and avenues for slavery and freedom. 

Staircases will be filmed for future digital broadcast. 

Directed by Julia Wedman, violin Created by Alison Mackay Narrated by Jonathan Woody, singer & composer