Piffaro, the Renaissance Band, announces plans to present The Musical World of Don Quixote, a festival bringing together fellow-Philadelphia cultural institutions including museums, libraries, and academia. Focused over the weekend of October 8 – 9, 2016, numerous concerts, exhibits and symposia will combine to cast a spotlight on the immortal knight errant and the intertwining musical and social attributes of his creator, Miguel Cervantes, in the year that marks the 400th anniversary of the death of the pre-eminent Spanish novelist.

The Musical World of Don Quixote is one of Piffaro’s most ambitious projects to date. The ensemble, which has been praised for performances that “reflect a level of sophistication not often heard outside the early music festivals of Europe,” (Philadelphia Inquirer) will offer instrumental music arranged by the ensemble based on monophonic melodies, as well as organ and vihuela works transcribed from tablature for Piffaro’s instrumental consorts. Selections inspired by the Don Quixote tale will feature recitations by soprano Nell Snaidas in Spanish, and by Piffaro member Grant Herreid in English. Piffaro will welcome Grammy-nominated vocal quartet New York Polyphony who will contribute solo songs and ballads derived from poetry from the novel, and motets, mass movements and villancicos by Francisco Guerrero, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Alonso Lobo and others.

Complimenting the musical offerings will be exhibitions at no new fewer than four Philadelphia establishments. The Rosenbach Museum and Library will display its collection of Spanish and English language manuscripts of Cervantes, many of them in first editions, as well as a collection of book art including a major new acquisition of Salvador Dali’s legendary Don Quixote lithographs. The University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Libraries will exhibit rarities from the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts, including first editions of Don Quixote and its translations, and contemporaneous materials. The Philadelphia Museum of Art will unveil its stunning early 18th century tapestries depicting scenes from Don Quixote, as well as objects exploring the themes of knight errantry and Romance. The Free Library will reveal hidden gems from its Rare Book Collection tying in to the theme of Don Quixote and the Spanish Golden Age.

A symposium organized by Princeton University’s Marina Brownlee, Chair of the Committee for Renaissance Studies, and hosted by Penn Libraries, will address the multiple cultural, musical, and social aspects of Cervantes’ era, and the challenges and rewards of translating Don Quixote for a modern age. Commentators will include Edith Grossman, whose 2003 translation of Don Quixote was called “truly masterly” by acclaimed Mexican author Carlos Fuentes; Louise K. Stein, America’s pre-eminent authority of Spanish early music; Patrick Lenaghan, curator of early modern art for the Hispanic Society of America; 
Antonio Feros, professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in Spanish and European politics, culture and ethnicity; and Josep Borras, director of the Escola Superior de Musica de Catlunya in Barcelona and a performer on early reeds with Jordi Savall’s Hesperion XXI.

The Musical World of Don Quixote has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

Complete details of Piffaro’s festival will be announced at a future date.

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For further information please contact Melanne Mueller, MusicCo International, 917 907 2785, melanne@musiccointernational.com

For further details about Piffaro, please visit http://www.piffaro.org

For further details about The Musical World of Don Quixote, please visit http://www.piffaro.org/don-quixote/

PIFFARO, THE RENAISSANCE BAND
Piffaro delights audiences with highly 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, the world renowned pied-pipers of Early Music present an annual subscription concert series in the Philadelphia region; tour throughout the United States, Europe, Canada and South America; and appear as performers and instructors at major Early Music festivals. Recordings are a significant part of the ensemble’s work, and 18 CDs have been released since 1992, including 4 on the prestigious label Deutsche Grammophon/Archiv Produktion.

NEW YORK POLYPHONY
Praised for a “rich, natural sound that’s larger and more complex than the sum of its parts,” (National Public Radio) New York Polyphony is regarded as one of the finest vocal chamber ensembles in the world. The four men, “singers of superb musicianship and vocal allure,” (The New Yorker) apply a modern touch to repertoire that ranges from austere medieval melodies to cutting-edge contemporary compositions. Their dedication to innovative programming, as well as a focus on rare and rediscovered Renaissance and medieval works, has not only earned New York Polyphony critical acclaim, but also helped to move early music into the classical mainstream.