Coming up in Philly music: Keeping Bach in perspective

Johann Sebastian Bach came from a long line of musicians. His forebears include a father, uncle, and grandfather who played in the German town bands that provide the model for Piffaro, Philadelphia’s own Renaissance band. For its spring concert, Piffaro’s Renaissance instruments will produce a potpourri of the older music that shaped Bach’s work.

The program will include hymns by Martin Luther, traditional chants elaborated with the complexities of Renaissance polyphony, virtuoso displays on Renaissance tunes, and samples of the popular dances Bach elaborated in his suites. The lineup for the concert includes one of Piffaro’s most popular guests, cornetto virtuoso Kiri Tollaksen, contributing the unique sound of an instrument that combines the sweetness of the recorder with the energy of the trumpet.

Piffaro will present Back Before Bach with Kiri Tollaksen on the cornetto and Adam Bregman on the sackbut on Friday, March 9, at 7:30pm at Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral (23 S. 38th Street); on Saturday, March 10, at 7:30pm at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill (8855 Germantown Ave); and Sunday, March 11, at 3pm at Christ Church Christiana Hundred (Wilmington, Delaware). Tickets ($29-$49; youth and full-time students free) are available by calling 215-235-8469, online, and at the door.