Piffaro Presents Holiday Concert A FRENCH NOEL

Piffaro, The Renaissance Band, will evoke Christmas Eve in 16th century France in its annual holiday concert, A French Noël. Philadelphia-based vocal ensemble Les Canards Chantants and Washington, DC-based actors Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell join Piffaro's instrumentalists. Concerts take place December 21-22 in Philadelphia and Wilmington. Tickets are $29-$49 (youth & full-time students free with ID) and are available at www.piffaro.org or by calling 215-235-8469.

The weekend before Christmas brings an "only in Philadelphia" holiday experience. Two of the city's unique treasures converge to provide audiences with an unusual glimpse of Christmas Eve in 16th century France.

Unbeknownst to most, a treasury of rare manuscripts resides at the Free Library of Philadelphia's Rare Book Department. One of these, a collection of beautifully illustrated French noels known by the dry moniker Lewis E 211, dates to 1520 and records texts of chansons (songs) celebrating the joys of Christmas in the French countryside. The accompanying illustrations charmingly depict lords, ladies, peasants, and anthropomorphic animals (including a bagpipe-playing boar) doing the same.

Without proper expertise to decode them, these 500-year-old words would lie mute on the page. Enter a second Philadelphia treasure: Piffaro, the Renaissance Band - the only ensemble of its kind in North America. Piffaro's musician-scholars bring over three decades of experience interpreting the mysteries of ancient musical manuscripts like Lewis E 211 and performing them on over 40 recreations of instruments of the period.

Additional forces are needed to bring the manuscript to life. This is music meant to be sung, and solo-voice ensemble Les Canards Chantants, led by Bryn Athyn Cathedral's music & choir directors Graham and Robin Bier, is lauded for its "elegant vocalism" (Philadelphia Inquirer) and "liveliness and theatricality" (Boston Intelligencer).

Mark Jaster and Sabrina Mandell practice pantomime and physical theater at the highest level. Their Happenstance Theater is Washington, DC's "leading peddler of whimsy" (Washington Post) and has been recognized five times over with Theatre Washington's Helen Hayes Awards. As Piffaro and Les Canards Chantants breathe life into the music, Jaster and Mandell will awaken the text's illustrations through the magic of tableaux vivants.

A French Noël brings these elements together to suggest Christmas Eve as it might have been celebrated in early 16th century France. Townspeople would have gathered together in their church for a mass, set to lush music composed for the occasion (in this case, Thomas Crecquillon's "Pis ne me peult venir"). The service would not have been straightforward, as it is today. Mass movements were interrupted with the singing of motets and noëls and enlivened with dramatic scenes - a jumbled, joyful affair.

This concert is supported by a grant from the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation.

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