Piffaro goes to prison

Piffaro usually performs in the convenient concert halls provided by Philadelphia churches like Trinity Memorial and Chestnut Hill Presbyterian. On May 16, its Renaissance instruments will echo through a location that might have looked familiar to vagabond Renaissance street musicians — Eastern State Penitentiary. Mezzo-soprano Maren Montalbano will join the band in Tudor songs about the death of Anne Boleyn, bloody murders, and other subjects appropriate to the setting. Piffaro’s codirector, Joan Kimball, says the acoustics of Eastern State resemble the acoustics of European Romanesque churches. Will the ghosts of queens and highwaymen exorcise the spirits of Eastern State alumni like Willie Sutton and Al Capone?

Piffaro presents Prisoners & Penitents on Friday, May 16 at 7:30pm and 10:00pm at Eastern State Penitentiary, 22nd Street and Fairmount Ave., Philadelphia. The program will be repeated in more conventional settings on Saturday, May 17 at 8:00pm at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Ave., and on Sunday, May 18th at 3pm at Christ Church Christiana Hundred, nestled next to the Hagley Museum just outside of Wilmington, DE. Tickets range from $15 to $40 and are available at www.piffaro.org or by calling 215-235-8469.