Ensemble Peregrina was founded in Basel by the singer and musicologist Agnieszka Budzinska-Bennett. Many of the ensemble’s members are on the faculty of  the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis – Basel’s University of Early Music. Peregrina performed at numerous festivals throughout Europe and the USA. The ensemble won the Echo-Klassik Award - one of the most prestigious classic music awards in the world. It was also nominated for the International Classical Music Awards and many others. Their concerts have been regularly broadcast on Swiss Radio DRS 2, Deutschlandfunk, Südwestfunk, SWR2, BR, Klassika Radio Estonia, PR 2 and BBC 3, and others. 

"a true luxury”, Goldberg Early Music Magazine, Spain

"fascinating concert", New York Times

“I’ve nothing but praise for the performers and the musicology that lies behind them” Early Music Review, UK

Photo by Cezary Zych

www.peregrina.ch

Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett - singer, harpist, musicologist. The Polish-born artist completed her Ph.D. in 2010, presenting a thesis on 13-th century motets.  Her love for medieval times began with her early passion for Old Norse and Middle Latin literature and culture. Being already a trained musician and musicologist, she got inspired by Sequentia's performances and deeply influenced by their serious and creative approach to medieval song. She decided to study medieval music and voice at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland where she currently lives and works. She trained voice with E. Kirkby, A. Boothroyd (London), B. Thornton, B. Bagby (Cologne), R. Levitt, D. Vellard, E. Tubb and S. Haselhoff (Basel). 

Photo by Jarosław Wagner

After finishing her vocal education, she took postgraduate studies in musicology at the Musicological Institute of Basel University, working on early medieval notation, style and performance practice with Prof. Wulf Arlt. In Basel, she was able to continue her early interest in Germanic languages by attending the Norse Philology faculty. 

Recently employed as a lecturer and researcher at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and at the Musikhochschule Trossingen in Germany she also present talks and lectures at many universities in Europe (Poznań, Würzburg, Leipzig, Warsaw, Tartu) and in the USA (Madison WI).

Agnieszka has been constantly praised for her passionate performances and the careful way of preparing Peregrina’s programs which has secured her the respectable place among the musicologists and early music performers alike.

A special guest of Mare Balticum - Benjamin Bagby

’I want to make voices of the past come to life again. To be recognized for this work is a great honor.’

Vocalist, harpist and scholar Benjamin Bagby has been an important figure in the field of medieval musical performance for more than 30 years. After musical studies in the USA (Oberlin Conservatory and Oberlin College) and Switzerland (Schola Cantorum Basiliensis), he and the late Barbara Thornton formed legendary Sequentia ensemble.

Photo by Frank Ferville

Together they created more than 70 innovative concert programs of medieval music and music drama, giving performances in Western and Eastern Europe, North & South America, North and West Africa, the Middle East, Japan, Korea, and Australia. They recorded 31 CDs including the complete works of Hildegard von Bingen. Many of these recordings received awards: the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis (for Vox Iberica, 1993), two Netherlands Edison Awards (for Hildegard von Bingen recordings, 1987 and 1998), a French Disque d'Or (1996), the CHOC of Le Monde de la Musique (2002) and Diapason d'Or (1995 and 1999). Sequentia's best-selling CD, Canticles of Ecstasy, has sold more than 500.000 copies worldwide and was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Choral Performance.

Apart from the research and ensemble work of Sequentia, Benjamin devotes his time to the solo performance of Anglo-Saxon and Germanic oral poetry; an acclaimed performance of the Beowulf epic is an ongoing project, with performances given yearly worldwide, and a DVD production released in 2007.

As a guest lecturer and professor, he has taught courses and workshops at many universities in the world. Since 2005 Benajmin has been on the music faculty of the Université de Paris - Sorbonne, teaching in the master’s programme for medieval music performance. In march 2017 Benjamin received REMA Early Music Award.

http://www.sequentia.org/biographies/bagby.html

Mare Balticum project has been recorded by German label TACET, a musical producer and a pioneer of vinyl productions and multi-channel in Real Surround Sound, founded by Andreas Spreer in 1989 in Stuttgart. From the very beginning their recordings received excellent reviews, the highest accolades and prestigious prizes like Jahrespreise der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, Cannes Classical Award, Echo, Diapason d'Or, a Grammy nomination and many more. Mare Balticum will be the second TACET project with ensemble Peregrina.

http://www.tacet.de