Globe & Mail Business for the Arts Awards – 2007 Winners

Most Effective Corporate Program

Award-Winning Partnerships with the Arts

The business: Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with 58,000 employees in offices around the world, the Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively known as TD Bank Financial Group. TD Canada Trust, its Personal and Commercial Banking arm, has long been known for its sponsorship of jazz festivals across the country. Although these festivals represent the cornerstone of TD's efforts to build community relations, the company supports a wide variety of similar initiatives ranging from premier music events to local community programs. With such a focus on music, partnering with Tafelmusik makes perfect sense. The nature of their partnership, though, highlights TD's long-term commitment, creativity, and commitment to educating youth in the arts.

The arts org: Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, led by Music Director Jeanne Lamon and founded in 1979, is one of the world's leading period performance ensembles. All members of the Orchestra are specialists in historical performance practice, and their collaboration results in a delightful transparency, vitality and richness of sound. The Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, specializing in baroque performance practice and vocal technique, was formed in 1981 to complement the Orchestra. Tafelmusik performs over 50 concerts a year at home in Toronto, tours extensively around the world, has released over 70 CDs and has received nine Juno Awards. In 2005, Tafelmusik received a Grammy Award nomination. In 2007-2008, Tafelmusik will embark on five major tours to three continents. Tafelmusik is the Baroque Orchestra-in-Residence at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto and is thrilled to partner with TD in support of this programme as well as Tafelmusik's young audience outreach initiatives.

The partnership: TD's partnership with Tafelmusik has existed for several years now and reaches musicians and music-lovers alike. TD's support in training future performers, and its financial assistance to help reach young audiences, takes shape in the following ways.

Artist Training - In 2004, TD became the founding sponsor of the orchestra's teaching residency as the University of Toronto's Baroque Orchestra-in-Residence. Now in its fourth season, this sponsorship provides much needed funding to give thousands of university students access to baroque music learning opportunities through free campus concerts, master classes, guest artist speakers and more.

In 2005, TD helped create $150 scholarships for U of T students who wish to enroll in Tafelmusik's Baroque Summer Institute Program. TD's support has also underwritten many costs to Tafelmusik associated with the launch of two new programmes offered through U of T: an Advanced Certificate in Baroque Performance, an intensive one-year full-time program allowing graduate-level students to develop practical music skills on period instruments; and a Masters program for Performance on Period Instruments beginning in the 2008-2009 season.

Young Audience Outreach - Tafelmusik's Face the Musik Program offers tickets to young people, ages 18 through 30, at a reduced price. TD underwrites these costs, allowing all young people the opportunity to attend concerts. During the 2007/2008 Season, TD's support of this programme has allowed Tafelmusik to launch a new pay-what-you-can programme for young people aged 18 through 30 at every Friday evening performance.

The outcome: A highly imaginative example of business and art combined!

Congratulations to TD Bank Financial Group on winning the Globe & Mail Business for the Arts Award for the Most Effective Corporate Program.