"Widely regarded as North America's masters of music for Renaissance Wind Band" (St Paul Pioneer Press), Piffaro, The Renaissance Band delights audiences throughout the United States, Europe, Canada and South America. The ensemble, founded in 1980, recreates the elegant sounds of the official, professional wind bands of the late Medieval and Renaissance periods, as well as the rustic music of the peasantry. Piffaro’s ever-expanding collection of shawms, sackbuts, recorders, krumhorns, bagpipes, lutes, guitars, harps, and a variety of percussion, are careful reconstructions of instruments from the period. Under the direction of Artistic Directors Joan Kimball and Bob Wiemken, Piffaro presents an annual subscription series in Philadelphia and Delaware; performs on early music and chamber music series throughout the U.S.; and appears internationally at major festivals in Austria, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain and The Czech Republic. Piffaro has been active in the field of education since its inception, and was honored with Early Music America's Laurette Goldberg “Lifetime Achievement Award in Early Music Outreach” in 2011. Its National Recorder Competition for Young Players attracts talented competitors from around the country to Philadelphia every two years. Recordings are a significant part of the ensemble’s work, with 18 CDs released since 1992, including 4 on the prestigious label Deutsche Grammophon/Archiv Produktion label. Piffaro currently records for the label PARMA/Navona. Piffaro's performances and recordings can frequently be heard on PRI’s Performance Today, BBC’s Early Music Show, and WWFM.