The ensemble, under the artistic direction of Susan Eitrich, was set up in 1996 and has made a name for itself with concerts at home and abroad, as well as through its success in winning awards – most recently at the 38th competition for choral and vocal ensembles in Tolosa, Spain. The ensemble in its original form consists of four voices, those of Susan Eitrich (soprano), Sebastian Mory and Jörg Deutschewitz (tenors) and Pierre Funck (bass).

They are joined by additional singers or by instrumentalists depending on the repertoire concerned. Under the name “Peñalosa de luxe”, the four musicians have successfully collaborated with Annette Schneider (soprano), Jóhanna Halldórsdóttir (alto), Dietrich Wrase (tenor), Christoph Müller (bass), Martin Lubenow (organ) and Suzanne van Os (lute), to name but some.

At the first Reutlingen Renaissance Festival the ensemble will be offering a total of six concerts and laying on a tour of the city with a music-historical perspective. In order to conjure up a fitting atmosphere and enhance audience appreciation of the music, each concert will be preceded by an introductory lecture. In the opening concert the Peñalosa Ensemble together with guest singers Ayako Yasuda (soprano), Jan Hermann (countertenor), Dietrich Wrase (tenor) and Martin Risch (bass) will present festive music of the Renaissance, including works by di Lasso, G. Gabrieli and J. Stadlmayr.

On the following day, an event carrying the title “Mensch, werde wesentlich” will present vocal and organ works composed in the unsettled context of the Reformation and the Thirty Years War by Lechner, Schütz, Brunner and others. To inject an instrumental element the organisers have invited the ensemble Los Imposibles, whose concert on September 20 bears an intriguing heading alluding to wood, skin, and gut strings: “Temperamentvolles für Holz, Fell und Darmseiten”.

On the same day the Peñalosa-Ensemble and this group will be presenting music of meditative depth and sparkling rhythms from Spain’s golden age, the concert being entitled “Adorámoste Señor”; its programme will feature works by Peñalosa (the composer after whom the ensemble is named) and Juan del Encina, among others. The day will end weightily with Gesualdo’s Responsories, a work in which religious fervour is combined with audacious chromaticism.

On 21 September, again in tandem with Los Imposibles, the Ensemble will bring the first Reutlingen Renaissance-Festival to its close in a lecture-performance with Dr. Clemens Goldberg, under the heading “Eros und Ecclesia”.