The Bassanos: From Renaissance Italy to Tudor England

From early in his reign, Henry VIII strove to make London an important center of arts and culture. The king’s agents scoured Europe for artists and musicians to bring to his court, including the Bassanos, an Italian (and likely Jewish) family of wind players and instrument builders, “all excellent and esteemed above all others in this city” according to Henry VIII’s agent in Venice. The wind players of Piffaro explore the story of the Bassano family, one of the most potent examples of musical immigration in 16th century Europe. 

Since 1980, Piffaro  has delighted audiences throughout the world with highly polished recreations of the rustic music of the peasantry and the elegant sounds of the official wind bands in the late Medieval and Renaissance periods.

Pre-Concert Talk at 7:00

Praise for Piffaro:

The ensemble almost magically transports its audience, evoking those long-ago ages with surprising immediacy, and this concert was imbued with intensity, scholarship, and joy in Renaissance music. (Broad Street Review)

There is a reason why the ensemble Piffaro from the USA has been invited back so many times to Regensburg. Few other instrumental ensembles of the early music scene, with their knowledge and wonderful programming, can excite audiences the way they do. Not only was the program itself fascinating, but also the enormous variety of instrumental color, with which Piffaro took the audience through the different musical styles and periods. This concert is the best example of how lively and exciting early music can be. (Mittelbayrische Zeitung)

These artists reminded us indelibly that great music has been, and still is, created everywhere. (Broad Street Review)