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Photo by Peter Torpey

We invite you to take a minute (two-and-a-half, actually) to relax and listen to this sneak peek into last week’s recording session: a raw take of the sublime Por nos virgen Madre from the Cantigas de Santa María by King Alfonso el Sabio of Castile (1221-1284). Anne Azéma is the soloist, accompanied by Christa Patton on harp; the sound engineer is our own David Griesinger.

For us, Virgin Mother, pray to God, your Father, Son and friend.
Pray to God that he help us, Pray to Him, since He is your Son and friend, pray to Him, since He is your Son and friend.
Pray that he protect us because He is without fault, your Son and friend, since He is without fault, your Son and friend.
For us, Virgin Mother, pray to God, your Father, Son and friend.

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Even as we are buffeted by the tempests of contemporary history, our need for the guidance and consolation of great art continues! We invite you to our autumn 2020 production of Henry Purcell’s only true opera, Dido and Aeneas. This intensely powerful work distills the emotions inherent in the ancient story, as rapidly alternating feelings of hope, disquiet, rejoicing, and mortal sorrow vie for their places in our modern-day hearts.

Dido, Queen of Carthage
Tahanee Aluwihare
Aeneas, a Trojan Prince
Luke Scott
Belinda, Dido’s confidant
Camila Parias

The Sorceress
Jordan Weatherston Pitts

At Camerata, we are hard at work during this early summer, imagining how we will share this powerful narrative in music with you, our public. Our Dido 2020 will be staged by Anne Azéma, with lighting and multimedia by Peter Torpey. As of today, we can safely share that we intend to present a mixed cast of live musicians on stage (vocal soloists and an instrumental ensemble led by Sarah Darling, first violin) augmented by the participation of remote singers. CDC permitting, you will be able to join us in the hall (under strict sanitation guidance) if wished, or remotely, in the safety and comfort of your own homes if you prefer. Details to be provided as soon as possible.

Here is the Entr’acte to Act II of Dido and Aeneas from Camerata’s 1979 recording, a moment of calm for your Friday and your weekend! The flute soloist is the late Nancy Joyce Roth.

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In recognition of Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States, we offer “Hebrew Children,” from the Sacred Harp (first edition 1844), which draws its stirring imagery of bondage and liberation from the Book of Daniel.

May all of us soon feel safe in our Promised Land!


from Free America, our 2019 Harmonia Mundi CD

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I first welcomed Reynette Estellien into our circle of Boston Camerata collaborators when she was a young student, singing with heart and soul as a member of the “Nueva España” cast. In successive years she helped to organize “Les Fleurs des Caraïbes” for their numerous collaborations with us. Two decades later, she still puts everything she has into her music-making, as those who recently saw and heard her at our December 2019 Christmas concerts can attest.

And you can also witness, in this video clip Reynette just sent us, the same passionate commitment she gives to her music, here also evident in her professional life as a medical researcher. She and her laboratory co-workers are looking for a vaccine to COVID-19, and we wish her, and them, every possible success! At Camerata we have always believed that there is a continuum between the focused, committed love that artistic work requires, and the human challenges of life in general. Reynette Estellien is our shining example of how good personal values apply, everywhere, all across the board.

Reynette, we are so proud of you. And how privileged we are to have you as a part of the Camerata family! We look forward to receiving more of your hopeful news.

Joel Cohen
Music Director Emeritus

Hear from Camerata colleague Reynette Estellien

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We are well aware, as are you, of all the problems and uncertainties that come with this grave health crisis. Our first, overriding concern, for you and for all of us, is our continued safety and good health. Yet despite all obstacles — those we all meet as fellow humans, and those which are specific to the performing arts — we at Camerata are determined to keep the redeeming grace of music alive and present in today’s world. Please see our hopeful vision under Upcoming Performances.


Ticketing will open at a later date; stay tuned for more information.
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Boston Camerata
Photo credit: Dan Busler
TODAY, Sunday, April 19, Camerata’s Free America! program will be broadcast on WCRB In Concert at 7pm EST.

The program was recorded live last November at Faneuil Hall in Boston, the location of many revolutionary town meetings during the 1760s and 1770s.

You can tune in on your radio (99.5 in the Boston area) or online at www.classicalwcrb.org. The full program & notes will be available on the WCRB website after the broadcast, and can be downloaded here.

Click here for more information about the broadcast!

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An offering from Camerata, during this important week for both Jews and Christians. The psalm recounts the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt, and we sing it, alternating verses, in both the (original) Hebrew and Latin versions. One tune comes from Jewish oral tradition; the other is the Gregorian “tonus peregrinus.”

But wait, aren’t they different versions of the same thing? And aren’t we all, on this mortal coil, brothers and sisters?
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