Artist Profiles

versatility, and ranges of the tenor and bass sackbuts and the tenor and lower dulcians made their incorporation into the loud bands inevitable, and hugely successful. Termed the Alta capella or “loud band” by Johannes Tinctoris in the 1490s, this combination of reeds and brass together still persists in the cobla bands in Catalonia today. The second aspect in play is the sense of counterpoint as a conversation among equals, as each voice in these compositions shares importance, melodic material, and consequence for the overall musical matrix. The greatest joy, and responsibility, in performing these works comes from being alert to the other members of the ensemble, responding at any one moment to others’ comments, initiating musical remarks oneself, and coming together at shared points of agreement—especially at cadences, the periods of musical statements. One might say that this is or should be a requirement of all shared music making no matter the age or the style. However, this perspective is most characteristic of and demanded from those performing the fugal, imitative counterpoint as it developed throughout the sixteenth century. Finally, dance stands as yet another significant compositional form in this fugal survey. In fact, a commonplace of current scholarly opinion holds that all early music, Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque alike, is heavily imbued with elements of dance, not just specific dance forms themselves, such as the passameze, the allemande, the bransle, the gigue, the gavotte, the ballet, and more, but the rhythms, figures, and gestures of dance music in general. Michael Praetorius is well known, and well appreciated today, for his famous collection of dances, the Terpsichore of 1612. His collection is international in scope, preserving not only German dance forms but also much from the French, Flemish, English, and Italian traditions as well, both courtly and rustic. The Passamezze, Alamande, and Volta in this final set display many of the elements of fugal, polyphonic, contrapuntal writing that developed throughout the late Medieval and Renaissance periods, and bring the concert to a rousing conclusion, just as they must have done over 400 years ago.

—Bob Wiemken

Piffaro, The Renaissance Band delights audiences with polished recreations of the rustic music of the peasantry and the elegant sounds of the official wind bands of the late Medieval and Renaissance periods. Its ever-expanding instrumentarium includes shawms, dulcians, sackbuts, recorders, krumhorns, bagpipes, lutes, guitars, harps, and a variety of percussion—all careful reconstructions of instruments from the period. Under the direction of Artistic Directors Joan Kimball and Bob Wiemken, Piffaro concertizes extensively, both close to home with its four-concert season in Philadelphia, as well as nationally and internationally. The ensemble débuted at Tage Alter Musik in Regensburg, Germany, in 1993, and has returned to Europe frequently over the decades, performing at major festivals in Austria, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and the Czech Republic. Piffaro has

traveled to South America, including a memorable tour in Bolivia under the auspices of that country’s bi-annual International Renaissance & Baroque Festival, and has performed at the major Early Music festivals throughout the U.S., including Boston, Berkeley, Indianapolis, and Madison, as well as on Early Music series, chamber music series, and college series, both in the U.S. and Canada. Through Piffaro’s many recordings on Newport Classics, Deutsche Grammophon Arkiv Produktion, Dorian Recordings, PARMA/Navona, and its own house label, and through radio and internet broadcasts, its music has reached listeners as far away as Siberia. Piffaro has been active in the field of education since its inception, and has been honored twice for its work by Early Music America, receiving the “Early Music Brings History Alive” award in 2003, and the Laurette Goldberg “Lifetime Achievement Award in Early Music Outreach” in 2011. Its National Recorder Competition for Young Players attracts talented competitors from around the country to Philadelphia every two years. The ensemble was honored in 2015 by The American Recorder Society with its “Distinguished Artist Award.” Another honor arrived for the Artistic Directors this past season, the “Howard Mayer Brown Award” for Lifetime Achievement in the Field of Early Music.

Grant Herreid has performed on early reeds, brass, strings, and voice with many early music ensembles. A noted teacher and educator, he received Early Music America’s Laurette Goldberg Award for Achievement in Early Music Outreach. On faculty at Yale University, he leads the Yale Collegium Musicum and the Yale Baroque Opera Project. Grant also directs the New York Continuo Collective, and devotes much of his time to exploring the esoteric unwritten traditions of early music with ensembles Ex Umbris and Ensemble Viscera.

Priscilla Herreid plays Renaissance winds, early oboes, and recorder with Piffaro, Hesperus, Handel and Haydn Society, Tempesta di Mare, Tenet Vocal Artists, NY Baroque Inc., The Sebastians, and Trinity Baroque Orchestra. The New York Times has described her playing as “spirited,” praising her “soaring recorder, gorgeously played…” Priscilla is honored to be Artistic Director Designate of Piffaro, continuing the rich legacy built by Joan Kimball and Bob Wiemken after the close of this season. She is a graduate of Temple University and The Juilliard School’s Historical Performance program. Greg Ingles attended Interlochen Arts Academy and graduated from Oberlin Conservatory and SUNY Stony Brook. Before his career in early music, Greg was the Solo Trombone in the Hofer Symphoniker. He is music director of the early brass ensemble Dark Horse Consort and made his Carnegie Hall début with Quicksilver. He plays with the American Bach Soloists, Concerto Palatino, the Handel and Haydn Society, Philharmonia Baroque, and Tafelmusik, and was in the Globe Theater’s Broadway début of Twelfth Night and Richard III. Greg is currently Lecturer in Sackbut at Boston University. Joan Kimball, artistic co-director and founding member of Piffaro, has concertized with the ensemble throughout the U.S., Europe, and South America, and has performed with many of the leading early music artists and ensembles in this country. Widely known in the early music community as a teacher of recorder, early double reeds, and bagpipes, she is on faculty at early music festivals and workshops across the country. She has also spearheaded Piffaro’s education programs over the years. Erik Schmalz received degrees in trombone performance from Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, but discovered early music and period instruments shortly thereafter. His instrumentarium ranging from a 14th-century straight trumpet copy to original Romantic-era trombones, he has been a historic trombone specialist and performer for more than fifteen years. As a member of Piffaro and Dark Horse Consort, and a regular performer with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Handel and Haydn Society, Tafelmusik, and Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Erik can be heard on many stages and on numerous recordings. Bob Wiemken is artistic co-director of Piffaro, with which he has recorded extensively, built over 150 programs of Renaissance and early Baroque music, and commissioned new works for early winds and chorus. He has performed with leading early music ensembles, and with Piffaro in festivals in North and South America and Europe. He teaches at U.S. festivals and workshops, directed the early music program at Temple University for twenty years, and is currently Instructor Scholar for Early Woodwinds at Texas Tech University. Oboist Fiona Last performs on historical winds across the United States, the UK, and Europe with groups such as Piffaro, the Gabrieli Consort, the Handel and Haydn Society, Apollo’s Fire, Tempesta di Mare, the Carmel Bach Festival, and Opera Philadelphia. Her interest in early instruments stems from the belief that understanding a musical style through the instruments for which it was written can bring new life to music making. Fiona holds music degrees from The Juilliard School, Yale School of Music, and Temple University.

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2011 | Niobe, Regina di Tebe | Philippe Jaroussky

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