Coming up in Philly Music: Caroling in early England

Piffaro’s annual Christmas concert travels around Renaissance Europe. This year Piffaro’s musical time machine will land in Tudor England with a program that includes carols, dances, and religious music from a time that gave us some of our cheeriest images of Christmas revelry.

Piffaro has been presenting Christmas concerts ever since it began life 39 years ago as the Philadelphia Renaissance Wind Band. For many of us, its Christmas revels have become an unmissable holiday tradition. Piffaro’s Renaissance instruments produce colors that create the sonic equivalent of a well-decorated Christmas tree, with ornaments that range from the smooth grace of the recorders to the heraldic brightness of trumpets and shawms (the ancestors of the oboe).

This year, the instruments will be teamed with two early music vocal stars. Tenor Karim Sulayman won a 2018 Grammy for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. Soprano Nell Snaidas has sung with early music groups all over the United States, Europe, and Latin America.

What, Where, When:

Piffaro, the Renaissance Band will present “Tydings Trew: Caroling in Early England” on Friday, December 13 at 7:30pm at St. Mary's, Hamilton Village, 3916 Locust Walk, Philadelphia; Saturday, December 14 at 7:30pm at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia; and Sunday, December 15 at 3pm at Christ Church Christiana Hundred, 505 East Buck Rd., Wilmington, Delaware.

Tickets are $29 general, $39 preferred, $49 premium, youth and full-time students free. Available at (215) 235-8469, online, and at the door.