The Renaissance and Baroque Society of Pittsburgh is a non-profit performing arts organization in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

 that presents performances of music from the Medieval

Medieval music

Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...

, Renaissance

Renaissance music

Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...

, Baroque

Baroque music

Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...

 and early Classical

Classical period (music)

The dates of the Classical Period in Western music are generally accepted as being between about 1750 and 1830. However, the term classical music is used colloquially to describe a variety of Western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, and especially from the sixteenth or...

 periods with an emphasis on historically informed performance

Historically informed performance

Historically informed performance is an approach in the performance of music and theater. Within this approach, the performance adheres to state-of-the-art knowledge of the aesthetic criteria of the period in which the music or theatre work was conceived...

. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 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

Cathedral of Saint Paul in Pittsburgh

The Cathedral of Saint Paul is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States...

. Among the ensembles which have been presented by the society are Apollo's Fire

Apollo's Fire

Apollo's Fire, The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra is a popular and critically acclaimed period-instrument ensemble specializing in early music based in Cleveland, Ohio. The ensemble unites a select pool of early music specialists from throughout North America and Europe...

, Trio Mediæval

Trio Mediæval

Trio Mediæval is a vocal trio established in Oslo in 1997, recording albums for the ECM label, and touring frequently in Europe and the US.The trio was put together mainly to sing medieval polyphonic works, but has since early in their career expanded their repertoire to also include contemporary...

, Quadriga Consort

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....

 and The Academy of Ancient Music.

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

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

 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

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...

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

Bạch

Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...

 music nationwide." In the 2008-09 season, the society celebrated its 40th anniversary. The program included performances by Tallis Scholars

Tallis Scholars

The Tallis Scholars are a British vocal ensemble normally consisting of two singers per part, with a core group of ten singers.Formed in 1973 by their director Peter Phillips, they specialise in performing a cappella sacred vocal music written during the Renaissance by composers from all over Europe...

, Richard Egarr

Richard Egarr

Richard Egarr is a British keyboard performer and conductor. He received his musical training as a choirboy at York Minster, at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, and as organ scholar at Clare College, Cambridge...

 and Flanders Recorder Quartet

Flanders Recorder Quartet

The Flanders Recorder Quartet is a professional recorder group whose members are Bart Spanhove, Tom Beets, Joris van Goethem and Paul van Loey. The quartet is one of a handful of ensembles inspiring a recorder renaissance...

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

Battle of Fort Duquesne

The Battle of Fort Duquesne was a British assault on the eponymous French fort that was repulsed with heavy losses on 14 September 1758, during the French and Indian War....

. 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

Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....

School of Drama.