Pew Center for Arts and Heritage

Get our monthly newsletter in your inbox for the latest on cultural events, ideas, conversations, and grantmaking news in Philadelphia and beyond.

Main page contents

A Royal Christening

Piffaro, the Renaissance Band

Piffaro, the Renaissance Band, produced a two-part program recreating a royal christening that occurred in Stuttgart, Germany in 1616. Works by Leonhard Lechner, Ludwig Daser, Gregor Aichinger, Balduin Hoyoul, and Michael Praetorius made up the first half of the program, a christening mass. The secular half of the program featured music by Cristofano Malvezzi, Emilio de' Cavalieri, Giulio Caccini, Didier le Blanc, and Isaac Posch. Piffaro collaborated with two early music ensembles: Parthenia, a consort of viols, and Blue Heron, a Renaissance chamber choir. Soprano Laura Heimes, and dancers from the New York Historical Dance Company, directed by Dorothy Olsson, performed in the second half of the program. Piffaro, Parthenia, and New York Historical Dance Company also presented educational programs at John Welsh School and Settlement Music School.

Recipient
Piffaro, the Renaissance Band

Piffaro, the Renaissance Band

Founded in Philadelphia in 1980, Piffaro performs 15th- through 17th-century music. Under the artistic direction of Joan Kimball and Robert Wiemken, the ensemble has released 16 CDs since 1992, including four on the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon/Archiv Produktion label, as well as on Dorian Recordings and Parma/Navano.

More info
Explore Connections
Larry W. Cook, Untitled.
National Media Spotlight on Philadelphia’s Cultural Scene
Nels Cline in performance at Royce Hall, Los Angeles. Photo by Phinn Sriployrung.

Guitarist Nels Cline on Musical Lineage
Video Tradition & Translation
Walking with Trane, Urban Bush Women. Photo by Gennia Cui.
Questions of Practice: Choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar on Art and Social Justice
Video Social & Community-Based Practices
Sonia Sanchez. Photo by Erika Vonie.
Celebrating Poet Sonia Sanchez, plus Pew Fellows Earn Guggenheim Fellowships, Peabody Award, and More
Pew Fellows Candice Iloh and Armando Veve. Photos by Neal Santos.

Fellow to Fellow: Candice Iloh and Armando Veve Find Inspiration in Each Other’s Mediums
Interview Cross-Disciplinary Practices
Enrique Bostelmann, Portrait of Cora Flores, 1980, part of Mirages series.

Projects in Process: Discoveries in the Archives with Berman Museum and Japan America Society
Essay Legacy & Archives
Sinta Penyami Storms, 2022 Philadelphia's Cultural Treasures fellow.
Four Philadelphia’s Cultural Treasures Fellows on Care and Community Impact
EgoPo Classic Theater, rehearsal for Ramayana with Papermoon Puppet Theatre and Kalanari Theatre Movement, 2023, Java, Indonesia. Photo courtesy of EgoPo. 

Projects in Process: Wilma Theater and EgoPo on Creative Collaborations
Essay Co-Authorship & Collaboration