ensemble Peregrina

• Agnieszka Budzinska - mus. dir., programmes
• Kelly Landerkin - mus. dir.
• Lorenza Donadini

NEWS: "Filia praeclara" has just received the Echo-Klassik-Preis 2009 for the a capella recording of the year!

Ensemble Peregrina, founded in 1997 researches and performs sacred and secular music from twelfth to fourteenth century Europe. The ensemble’s main interest lies in the early polyphonies and monophonic repertories of the Notre Dame school and Aquitanian nova cantica; the aim always being to look for a creative “counterpoint” to the mainstream in the less known peripheral sources. The ensemble’s programmes are characterised by a careful choice of themes and pieces, always paying close attention to their textual and musical interrelationships.

Peregrina’s interpretation and style is informed by the original source materials and treatises, as well as the latest musicological and historical research. The ensemble strives to approach a performance transmitted in the sources as closely as possible without having to renounce a well-balanced and beautiful vocal performance.

The ensemble’s continuing partnership with the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, where its members met and studied, led to CDs recordings “Mel et lac” (SCB Edition/Raumklang/DRS2 2005) and "Filia praeclara" (SCB/Divox 2008) which have received critical acclaim in the press including twice Goldberg 5 (Spain), 4 Diapason (France), Selection Musicora (Apr 2006),CD of the month (Muzyka 21, Poland), Supersonic Pizzicato (Luxembourg).

  Apr 2006   

Peregrina has also been invited to lecture on the music of 12thcentury Aquitaine at the SCB and has twice performed in the prestigious concert series “Freunde Alter Musik” in Basel. The ensemble has also performed at numerous other festivals in Switzerland (such as Lucerne Festival), Poland, Germany, Spain, Estonia and Czech Republic. Its concerts have been braodcasted by radio stations like Swiss radio DRS 2, BBC 4, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Deutschlandfunk, SWR2 and Klaasika Radio (Estonia).

The name “peregrina”, the wanderer, alludes to the transmission of music and ideas throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, but also reflects the personal journeys of the singers themselves. The ensemble members (coming from Poland, Switzerland and the United States) together achieve a dynamic balance through their differing origins, and they unite to emulate the interaction and convergence of the cultures and histories of the music they perform.

Most important performances:

 

• Freunde Alter Musik Basel 2002 & 2006 (CH)
• Festival de musique ancienne de Rougemont La Folia 2002 (CH)
  
• Musica Antiga Palma de Mallorca 2002 (ES)
  
• XIV. Berliner Tage für Alte Musik 2003 (D)
  
• Lucerne Festival 2003 (CH)
  
• XIV. Internationale Tage der mittelalterlichen Musik Montalbane 2004 (D)
  
• IX International Tartu Early Music Festival Festivitas Artium 2004 (EE)
  
• Schnütgen Konzerte Köln 2005 (D)
  
• Freunde Alter Musik Laufenburg 2006 & 2008 (CH/D)
  
• IV Königliches Musikfestival Kloster Zlata Koruna & Prague 2006 (CZ)
• Festival "Portico di Zamora" 2007 (ES)
• Musik in der Klosterkirche Muri 2007 (CH)
• Europäische Kirchenmusik Festival Schwäbisch Gmünd 2007 (D)
• Tage Alter Musik Knechtsteden 2007 (D)
• Festival INNOVANTIQUA Winterthur 2008 (CH)
• Forum Alter Musik Zürich "Anbetung und Extase" 2009 (CH)
• Internationale Orgelwochen Musica Sacra Nürnberg 2009 (D)
  
• York Early Music Festival 2009 (GB)
  

 

Last updated: Nov 20th, 2009

Recently in the press...

• in Goldberg Early Music Magazine, Aug 11th, 2008:
  The Ensemble Peregrina’s recording thus hits the mark with its recreation of the sounds of a female convent of the order of St. Francis, better known ... >>>
  about Filia praeclara CD release
• in Codaex 74 (juin 2008), Jun 01st, 2008:
  Grâce, délicatesse, clarté qualifient immédiatement le travail de l’ensemble Peregrina pour interpréter ces pages de musique médiévale.(...) Un fabul... >>>
  about Filia preaclara CD release
• in Fanfare, USA (November/ Dezember 2008), Nov 01st, 2008:
  The women of this ensemble were hailed on their first release, “Mel et Lac”, and this continues to witness superior scholarship and performance (..) t... >>>
  about Filia Preclara CD release
• in Early Music, Vol. xxxv, No.4, November 2007, Nov 01st, 2007:
  The contrast withgroups such as Sequentia or Anonymous 4 is marked indeed; one not only feels that the members of Peregrina live and breathe this musi... >>>
  about Mel et lac CD release