We are delighted to announce the addition of Héloïse Degrugillier and Sian Ricketts to our core band after a two-year search to replace our retiring founders Joan Kimball and Bob Wiemken, who played dozens of instruments in the ensemble.
“No one in our field is a carbon copy of anyone else,” says artistic director Priscilla Herreid. “Everyone who has ever been in Piffaro has brought different experiences, instruments, and backgrounds to the table. Since Joan and Bob (our co-founders) retired in 2022, we’ve been working to strengthen our new identity.
I’m so pleased to introduce two new core members – Héloïse and Sian – who fit into our ensemble like a dream. Both are incredible team players: musicians who give everything to support the whole ensemble. They are at home on Renaissance instruments, are passionate about the repertoire and understand how to play it, and are musically unflappable. They don’t falter when they are playing an unfamiliar instrument – they do their homework and are as well-prepared as they can be. They both have wonderful ears and have really adapted to the way that we play. While the decision was mine to make, it was important to me that the core band had input. I’m happy to report that everyone is unanimously overjoyed, and we are ready to sink our teeth into the repertoire we have before us, together, in the 2024/2025 season.”
Héloïse writes, “The very first concert I attended when I came to America was a Piffaro concert. How fitting and what an honor to be joining those wonderful musicians. I have been playing the recorder since I was 5 years old – it is time for me to learn new instruments, play the music I love, surrounded by amazing people. I can’t wait!”
For Sian, “playing with Piffaro is truly a dream come true. There are few opportunities to play 16th-century consort repertoire in this country, and even fewer with these incredible players. I’m so honored and excited to get the chance to delve deeper both into repertoire that I love and that I have yet to know; to learn new instruments; and to know that when I put away the shawms after each concert, I will certainly get the chance to play them again soon.”