St Paul's Cathedral - Center and Synod Hall

Renaissance & Baroque, formerly known as the Renaissance and Baroque Society of Pittsburgh is a non-profit performing arts organization in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

that presents performances of music from the

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including th ...

and early Classical periods with an emphasis on

historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of classical music, which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of the musical era in which ...

. ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

'', describes it as having "developed one of the area's most faithful and enthusiastic followings." Its main performance venue is Synod Hall, adjacent to the Cathedral of Saint Paul. Among the ensembles which have been presented by the society are

Apollo's Fire Apollo's Fire, The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra is a popular and critically acclaimed period-instrument ensemble specializing in early music (Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and early Romantic) based in Cleveland, Ohio. The GRAMMY-winning ensembl ...

, Trio Medieval,

Quadriga Consort Quadriga Consort aka Quadriga Early Music Band is an early music ensemble from Austria. Founded in 2001 by harpsichordist Nikolaus Newerkla, the ensemble plays rearranged early British and Irish traditional music performed on period instruments. ...

and

The Academy of Ancient Music The Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) is a British period-instrument orchestra based in Cambridge, England. Founded by harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood in 1973, it was named after an 18th-century organisation of the same name (originally the Ac ...

. The society was established in 1969 with Colin Stern as one of its key founders. Stern, a professor at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

, where he taught for 38 years until his retirement in 1986, was an expert on early music performance practice and the founder of the period-instrument ensemble, Ars Antiqua Players. According to the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the Al ...

'', both the Ars Antiqua Players and the Renaissance and Baroque Society "helped stimulate interest in pre-

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

music nationwide."

40th Anniversary Season

In the 2008–2009 season, the society celebrated its 40th anniversary. The program included performances by

Tallis Scholars The Tallis Scholars is a British professional early music vocal ensemble normally consisting of two singers per part, with a core group of ten singers. They specialise in performing ''a cappella'' sacred vocal music. History The group was formed ...

Richard Egarr Richard Egarr (born 7 August 1963) is a British conductor and keyboard player. Biography Born in Lincoln, Egarr received his early musical training as a choirboy at York Minster and at Chetham's School of Music. He was an organ scholar at Cla ...

and

Flanders Recorder Quartet The Flanders Recorder Quartet was a professional recorder group based in Belgium. History The group initially formed in 1987 and became more well known upon winning the 1990 competition Musica Antiqua Bruges, Belgium. Active members *Bart Span ...

as well as a new work commissioned by the society to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the

Battle of Fort Duquesne The Battle of Fort Duquesne was British assault on the eponymous French fort (later the site of Pittsburgh) that was repulsed with heavy losses on 14 September 1758, during the French and Indian War. The attack on Fort Duquesne was part of a l ...

. ''Battle of the Forks'', an arrangement of writings and music from the period including two pieces of music by the English general John Reid (1721–1807), premiered on September 27, 2008 at Synod Hall in Pittsburgh performed by the Chris Norman Ensemble, Concerto Caledonia and members of the

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technolog ...

School of Drama.Kanny, Mark (September 25, 2008 )
"Concert salutes 250-year-old battle for Pittsburgh"
''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review''. Accessed May 25, 2011 .

Re-branding

During the 2010–2011 season, Managing Director Gail M. Luley and the Board of Director decided to drop the "society" from the organization's name, and re-brand as Renaissance & Baroque, with the accompanying tagline: "bringing early music to Pittsburgh."

50th Anniversary Season

In the 2019–2020 season, Renaissance & Baroque will be celebrating its 50th anniversary.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Non-profit organizations based in Pittsburgh Performing arts in Pittsburgh Organizations established in 1969

40th Anniversary Season

Re-branding

50th Anniversary Season

See also

References

External links