Lands of Pure Delight:
70 Seasons of Music Making with The Boston Camerata
Camerata, born at the Museum of Fine Arts in 1954, joins again with our mother institution to celebrate a milestone anniversary. Our superb singers and instrumentalists will re-create some of those first, pioneering Museum performances, echo in live music some of the visual treasures of the Museum collections, and showcase some of our present-day adventures in sound.
Oct 6, 2024
2:00pm
Ticketing is now available directly from the MFA!
Celestial Visions of Medieval Britain
This program will explore the connection between earthly and celestial forces as expressed in some distinct, compelling visions. Wind player and composer Mara Winter will lead Camerata through musings on humankind’s relationship to the universe, the mystery of creation, and the magic of the natural world, sung in all three of medieval Britain’s literary languages: Latin, English and French.
The essential role of instruments in the musical fabric of medieval Britain will also featured, with originally composed instrumental monophony performed in the high medieval style, blending playfully from traditional forms of instrumental music that survive today in the British Isles.“We will travel in an arc through each of these visions and allegory to contemplate the role which the natural world plays in representing the celestial spheres at play on Earth, the moving and unmoving spheres of the cosmos” says Mara.
An exciting chance to see the wonderful work of our close team under a new guest leadership!
May 5, 2024
5:00pm
Tickets available online through noon on the day of the performance and at the door.
Les Miracles de Notre Dame
Apr 19, 2024
8:00pm
Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis
St. Louis, MO
St. Louis, MO
A collaboration with the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis Schola, directed by Andrew J. Kreigh, Director of Sacred Music
Gloria!
An Italian Christmas
A joyful celebration of the season, with virtuoso voices and instruments performing magnificent Italian works of the Renaissance and early Baroque. Music ranging from intimate simplicity to sumptuous splendor including sacred songs of devotion, instrumental fantasias, and resplendent choral masterpieces of Venice’s Golden Age. Music of Monteverdi, Gabrieli, Cipriano, Marenzio and many more performed by voices, cornetto, viola da gamba, harp, brass and organ. Not be missed!
Dec 21, 2023
8:00pm
Tickets available online until 11am the day of the performance and at the door – our box office opens one hour prior to the performance.
Experience our recent Harmonia Mundi CD release live and in-person! Transcendent Christmas music, featuring a superb all-female ensemble of voices and instruments.
The sounds of Christmas spirituality from Medieval France, Italy, England, and Provence, including music of the church and songs of private devotion around the joyous theme of the Nativity. Included are songs to the Virgin Mary, processionals from Saint Martial of Limoges, hymns, lyrics, and miracle ballads sung in Latin, Old French, Old Provençal, and Saxon, interlaced with Medieval English texts of the Nativity.
Dec 8, 2023
8:00pm
Tickets available online until 2pm the day of the performance and at the door.
Dec 7, 2023
3:00pm
Ticketing for this performance is now open through the Lincoln Theater website!
Dec 2, 2023
8:00pm
A collaboration with the Medieval Womens’ Choir, presented by Early Music Seattle.
We’ll Be There!
American Spirituals, Black and White, 1800-1900
““[We’ll Be There] was beautiful and vibrant to hear.. exciting and revealing.” – New York Classical Review, 2022
Oct 24, 2023
5:00pm
A Featured Presentation of the Early Music America Summit.
Open to Summit participants only.
Oct 22, 2023
4:00pm
Tickets available online until 9am on the day of the performance and at the door.
Free parking available across the street
Free parking available across the street
Oct 21, 2023
5:00pm
Tickets available online until 11am on the day of the performance and at the door.
Carmina Burana
Drawing on the original 13th-century manuscript, The Boston Camerata’s Carmina Burana presents a panoramic portrait of student and clerical life in medieval Europe: paeans to the Goddess Fortune, funny and ferocious critiques of Church and State, earnest meditations on truth and righteousness, and a generous serving of songs about drinking, gambling and amorous adventure. With its usual verve and vivacity, the Camerata gives a deepened, in turn exuberant and contemplative reading of this manuscript, under the direction of vocalist Anne Azéma.
May 7, 2023
4:00pm
A collaboration with the Newburyport Choral Society.
Could two musical works of the same name be more different? On the one hand, a complex, densely orchestrated piece of modern, Stravinsky-styled music, with ancient Latin texts ranging from drunken songs to philosophical ruminations—Carmina Burana by 20th Century composer Carl Orff. On the other, equally spirited texts, but sung with simple voices, accompanied only by ancient instruments—the original Carmina Burana, a vivacious portrayal of Man’s fate and redemption, and wonderful tales of revelry, wine and love, compiled by students and clerks from medieval southern Germany.
The Newburyport Choral Society is thrilled and honored to join forces with Anne Azéma and the Boston Camerata in this unique side-by-side performance of two completely different, yet related musical masterpieces. You won’t want to miss this dramatic and powerful concert!
Advance tickets are recommended and are only available online.
Could two musical works of the same name be more different? On the one hand, a complex, densely orchestrated piece of modern, Stravinsky-styled music, with ancient Latin texts ranging from drunken songs to philosophical ruminations—Carmina Burana by 20th Century composer Carl Orff. On the other, equally spirited texts, but sung with simple voices, accompanied only by ancient instruments—the original Carmina Burana, a vivacious portrayal of Man’s fate and redemption, and wonderful tales of revelry, wine and love, compiled by students and clerks from medieval southern Germany.
The Newburyport Choral Society is thrilled and honored to join forces with Anne Azéma and the Boston Camerata in this unique side-by-side performance of two completely different, yet related musical masterpieces. You won’t want to miss this dramatic and powerful concert!
Advance tickets are recommended and are only available online.
May 6, 2023
7:30pm
Carols at Midnight
A cornucopia of French Christmas music for voices, viols, harp and organ. Serene liturgies from the Burgundian court mingle with late Renaissance and early Baroque carols and dances. A candlelit performance of Charpentier’s beloved Messe de Minuit is the centerpiece of our evening.
Dec 22, 2022
7:00pm
Online ticket sales close at noon the day of the performance. Tickets will also be available at the door.
Dec 7, 2022 - Jan 6, 2023
Streaming
On-Demand
On-Demand
Please choose the “Now Streaming” delivery option at checkout!
Dec 5, 2022
7:00pm
Mt. Holyoke College
South Hadley, MA
South Hadley, MA
Dec 4, 2022
4:00pm
Online ticket sales close at 10am on 12/4. Tickets will also be available at the door.
Dec 3, 2022
4:00pm
Online ticket sales will close at 10am on 12/3. Tickets will also be available at the door.
Nov 6, 2022
4:00pm
Pre-concert talk by Prof. Thomas F. Kelley (Harvard) at 2:30pm
Pre-concert talk by Prof. Caroline Bruzelius (Duke) held virtually; available to all ticket holders along with online performance.
Reminder to our US friends that the clocks go back one hour on Saturday night – enjoy your extra hour of sleep!
We’ll Be There!
American Spirituals, Black and White, 1800-1900
Oct 2, 2022
4:00pm
Use code CAMERATA for 25% off!
Douce Dame Jolie:
Guillaume de Machaut’s Last Affair
About two years before he composed his famous Mass, the aging master and churchman Guillaume de Machaut fell in love with the too-young noblewoman Péronne d’Armentière, poetess, dancer, and musician, and an unconditional admirer of the older genius and his works. Their bittersweet story, told in the words of both Machaut and Péronne, and sung to the accompaniment of harps, lutes, and vielles, comprises some of the most beautiful and touching love music of the late Middle Ages, including many songs composed and dedicated by the two lovers to each other in the course of their impossible affair.
May 22-23, 2022
Streaming
On-Demand
On-Demand
Cancelled!
The music is ravishing, and the cast performed with energy and conviction…but there is a major, unresolved issue.
For reasons still undetermined, we are unable to deliver high-quality sound worthy of Machaut’s music, and of the May 7 performance. The timbres of voices and instruments are poorly rendered in the soundtrack, and do not fairly represent the musicians’ fine work.
We can’t, therefore, present you the video as we planned. Our disappointment is deep, as, surely, is yours.
May 7, 2022
8:00pm
A Boston première! From the years of pandemic in medieval France, the touching, bittersweet story of Machaut and his impossible romance with an admiring poetess.
Also available for on-demand streaming starting May 20.
Dec 19, 2021
4:00pm
Please note that ticket sales will close at 11am on the day of the performance.
Dec 18, 2021
8:00pm
Please note that ticket sales will be closed at NOON on the day of the performance.
We’ll Be There!
American Spirituals, Black and White, 1800-1900
Nov 10-28, 2021
Streaming
On-Demand
On-Demand
The performance will be available for on-demand streaming from November 10-28 – choose the “Online” ticket option.
Dido & Aeneas:
An Opera for Distanced Lovers
This new production of Purcell’s only true opera features live performance and media elements conceived by Peter Torpey, all stitched together to be viewed from the safety and comfort of your home.
Jun 7-20, 2021
6:00pm
Streaming
On-Demand
On-Demand
This production will be recorded live, post-produced to include remote elements, and released on the Camerata website.
You’ll receive an email shortly before the premiere which will contain links to the pre-concert talk and the show itself.
For more info, go to /online-events.
Bridges to Spring:
Sacred Music of the Three Abrahamic Religions
Mar 26- Apr 15, 2021
6:00pm
Streaming
On-Demand
On-Demand
Available for streaming at any time between the above dates. There is no limit on the number of times you can watch the program during its specified period. You will receive an email containing the link to the video when it is ready to view.
To the Distant Beloved
Mar 19-21, 2021
6:00pm
Available for streaming at any time between the above dates. There is no limit on the number of times you can watch the program during its specified period. You will receive an email containing the link to the video when it is ready to view.
Douce Dame Jolie:
Guillaume de Machaut’s Last Affair
Feb 14, 2021
4:00pm
Postponed!
A Boston Premiere!
An American Christmas
Dec 27, 2020 - Jan 15, 2021
4:00pm
Streaming
On-Demand
On-Demand
Since we cannot gather in concert halls this holiday season, the Boston Camerata will come to you with a newly-produced streaming version of An American Christmas.
Filmed at Boston’s historic Old North Church, the performance features inspiring early American music, in a program reimagined specifically for this unique and challenging year. Artistic Director Anne Azéma comments: “This glorious music from a young and hopeful nation will give us all the kind of boost we wish for at the present moment.”
Available online December 25th through January 10th!
Dido & Aeneas:
An Opera for Distanced Lovers
Nov 14-29, 2020
6:00pm
Streaming
On-Demand
On-Demand
This production will be recorded live, post-produced to include remote elements, and released on the Camerata website.
You’ll receive an email shortly before the premiere (6:00pm EST on Saturday, November 14, 2020) which will contain links to the pre-concert talk and the show itself.
Le Tournoi de Chauvency, written circa 1285 by the French poet Jacques Bretel, is a narration of a courtly celebration in the Lorraine region of France, and the inspiration for “The Night’s Tale”. Our performance evokes a day’s festivities at the chateau of Chauvency. Daylight is the domain of men, who joust and fight in ritual encounters; when night falls, women converse in music and dance, far from the masculine violence of the daytime. Mutual desire aroused during the day culminates in the evening’s rites — aggressive and courtly, passionate and playful.
Apr 17, 2020
7:30pm
Cancelled!
Daniel:
A Medieval Masterpiece Revisited
The fiery prophecies of Daniel, young captive in corrupt Babylon, ring forth again. This stunning, contemporary new production by Anne Azéma of the greatest musical play from the French Middle Ages involves lights, movement, urgent poetry, and a sterling cast including seasoned professionals, children, and Longy School of Music of Bard College students, to make 1310 happen again, in 2025. Our singers and musicians are supported by Peter Torpey’s deeply evocative lighting and special effects.
Feb 8, 2020
7:30pm
A collaboration between the Boston Camerata and the UO School of Music and Dance.
University of Oregon residency and performance 3-8 Feb, Anne Azéma, Trotter Visiting Professor
Jan 25, 2020
8:00pm
The fiery prophecies of Daniel, young captive in corrupt Babylon, ring forth again. This stunning, contemporary new production by Anne Azéma of the greatest musical play from the French Middle Ages involves lights, movement, urgent poetry, and a sterling cast including seasoned professionals, children, and Boston City Singers and Longy School of Music of Bard College students, to make 1310 happen again, in 2020. Our singers and musicians are supported by Peter Torpey’s deeply evocative lighting and special effects.
Jan 18, 2020
7:30pm
The Boston Camerata is joined by the children of Saint Mark’s Cathedral Choir School under the direction of Rebekah Gilmore.
Puer Natus Est:
A Medieval Christmas
A glimpse of Christmas spirituality from Medieval France, Italy, England, and Provence, including music of the church and songs of private devotion around the joyous theme of the Nativity. Included are songs to the Virgin Mary, processionals from Saint Martial of Limoges, hymns, lyrics, and miracle ballads sung in Latin, Old French, Old Provençal, and Saxon, interlaced with Medieval English texts of the Nativity. Our cast features an extraordinary trio of women’s voices with harp and vielle. Anne Azéma, Camila Parias, Deborah Rentz-Moore, voices; Christa Patton, winds, harp; Allison Monroe, vielle
Dec 14, 2019
3:00pm
Union College, Memorial Chapel
Schenectady, NY
Schenectady, NY
Dec 8, 2019
3:00pm
pre-concert lecture at 2:00
Dec 6, 2019
5:00pm
Sold Out!
with special guests The UVM Catamount Singers, David Neiweem, Director.
Tickets are currently unavailable for this show. Please continue to check back, as we may be able to open up seats in the future.
Tickets are currently unavailable for this show. Please continue to check back, as we may be able to open up seats in the future.
A Comforting Promise:
Music Celebrating Donald Wilkinson
Oct 12, 2019
2:00pm
Please join the Camerata and Friends for a concert to benefit the newly founded Donald R. Wilkinson Young Singers Fund.
Free America!
Early Songs of Resistance and Rebellion (1790-1860)
Oct 5, 2019
8:00pm
Auditorium Cassin at Palais de la Musique et des Congrès
Rue Richard Strauss, 67000
Strasbourg, France
Rue Richard Strauss, 67000
Strasbourg, France
Tickets are free courtesy of the City of Strasbourg in celebration of its 60 year sister-city relationship with the City of Boston. Although free, tickets are limited and may be obtained at the Palais de la Musique et des Congrès prior to the concert.
Les Miracles de Notre-Dame
Sep 26, 2019
7:30pm
Under the direction of The Boston Camerata’s Artistic Director Anne Azéma, the performers include:
- Camila Parias, soprano
- Agnes Coakley, soprano
- Anne Azéma, mezzo soprano
- Deborah Rentz Moore, contralto
- Michael Barrett, tenor
- Craig Juricka, baritone
- Lawson Daves, baritone
- Luke Scott, bass-baritone
La Reina Joiosa
Sep 15, 2019
7:30pm
Klingenmünster Benedictine Monastery
76889 Klingenmünster
Klingenmünster, Weinstraße, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
76889 Klingenmünster
Klingenmünster, Weinstraße, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
City on the Hill:
Early Hymns and Spirituals of New England
On this fascinating and inspiring concert, Camerata will perform songs by the many religious groups that came to Boston and New England, beginning with the Puritans in 1640, to the hymn and anthem-singing Congregationalists and Universalists of the eighteenth century, to the utopian Shakers of Maine and Massachusetts, whose enormous production of spirituals and dance songs reveal themselves as central to the American dream of the Shining City.
Solemn and virtuous hymn singing contrasts with the barroom ballads that became religious songs. Carefully ordered worship contrasts with inspired dancing, joyful revelation, and hope for a better world.
Jul 2, 2019
7:30pm
The Camerata will be performing at the Association of Anglican Musicians annual conference.
email: aamboston2019@gmail.com
Songes et Mençonges:
Medieval visions and dreams of prophecy, love and folly
Songes et Mençonges: Dreams and Deceptions
Jun 12, 2019
11:00pm
Join us in Boston for eight days of award-winning opera, celebrated concerts, the world-famous Exhibition, and more—JUNE 9–16, 2019! BEMF’s 20th BIENNIAL FESTIVAL, featuring the theme of “Dreams & Madness,” brings the world of Early Music together in Boston for a weeklong celebration.
City on the Hill:
Early Hymns and Spirituals of New England
Apr 5, 2019
8:00pm
Cast:
Anne Azéma, mezzo-soprano, direction
Camila Parias, soprano
Deborah Rentz-Moore, alto
Daniel Hershey, tenor
Michael Barrett, tenor
Luke Scott, bass-baritone
Jesse Lepkoff, flutes, guitar
Eric Martin, violin
Reinmar Seidler, cello
Anne Azéma, mezzo-soprano, direction
Camila Parias, soprano
Deborah Rentz-Moore, alto
Daniel Hershey, tenor
Michael Barrett, tenor
Luke Scott, bass-baritone
Jesse Lepkoff, flutes, guitar
Eric Martin, violin
Reinmar Seidler, cello
Nov 25, 2018
3:30pm
Part of the RISD Museum Concert Series
The Tale of Fauvel:
A Political Fable from Medieval France
See and hear the orange creature gallop towards NowhereLand! The malevolent animal Fauvel is the protagonist of this acerbic and witty fable satirizing religious and political life in the fourteenth century and laden with implications for our own time and place. Watch Fauvel woo the Goddess Fortune, and resist his attempt to take over fair France! Our semi-staged production offers a generous selection of music, text, and visual stimulation from one of the most famous of all medieval manuscripts.
Oct 28, 2018
4:00pm
Anne Azéma, Timothy Leigh Evans, Michael Barrett, voices
Shira Kammen, vielle
Steven Lundahl, winds
Joel Cohen, narrator
Shira Kammen, vielle
Steven Lundahl, winds
Joel Cohen, narrator
City on the Hill:
Early Hymns and Spirituals of New England
Sep 16, 2018
3:00pm
The choir of the American Cathedral in Paris (Zach Ullery, director) joins us.
The Camerata brings the soul of the American founding generation to life through hymns, polyphonic songs, and ballads. This concert will explores the vital and life-affirming sounds of the young Republic as its citizens sang and played forth their love of freedom and their rejection of tyranny. The rough-hewn works of citizen-composers, such as Boston tanner William Billings or Vermont tavern-keeper Jeremiah Ingalls, still ring true to our contemporary ears. 
Apr 21, 2018
8:00pm
Daniel:
A Medieval Masterpiece Revisited
Jan 21, 2018
2:00pm
Rockefeller Chapel
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL
With the Rockefeller Chapel Choir and the Trebles of the Choir of St. Luke’s, Evanston
Jan 19, 2018
7:30pm
Grace and Holy Trinity Church
Kansas City, MO
Kansas City, MO
With Te Deum Antiqua and the Lawrence Children’s Choir.
A cornucopia of French Christmas music for voices, viols, harp and organ. Serene liturgies from the Burgundian court mingle with late Renaissance and early Baroque carols and dances. A candlelit performance of Charpentier’s beloved Messe de Minuit is the centerpiece of our evening. A Mediterranean Christmas
The Christmas narrative retold using songs, chants, and instrumental pieces from the countries of the Mediterranean basin: Spain, Italy, and southern France, as well as north Africa and the Holy Land. Works are drawn from medieval manuscripts and more recent, though still archaic, folklore and oral traditions. With voices, early instruments of Europe and the Middle East, and readings of the Christmas story. We are joined by SHARQ Arabic Ensemble.
Dec 12, 2017
7:30pm
Bourgie Hall
Montreal, QC, Canada
Montreal, QC, Canada
For their first concert in Montreal since their creation in 1954, the renowned Boston Camerata has joined forces with the Arabic music ensemble SHARQ to introduce us to traditional Christmas carols from the Mediterranean basin. From northern Africa to southern Europe, different cultures, languages and traditions come together in a great message of love and hope.
Liberty Tree:
Early Music for the American Soul
Oct 29, 2017
4:00pm
Harvard’s glorious Memorial Church will resound with partsongs, marches, anthems, jigs, and ballads from the young Republic, a time when citizens sang their rejection of tyranny! Rousing works by citizen-composers such as Boston tanner William Billings and Vermont tavern-keeper Jeremiah Ingalls still ring true today. WIth the Choral Fellows of Harvard University (Edward Jones, dir.) young professionals from Longy School of Music of Bard College, and Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes and Drums.
Treasures of Devotion:
Spiritual Song in Northern Europe 1500-1540
Sep 3, 2017
2:00pm
A series of short popup concerts in the museum’s Philipsvleugel (Phillips Wing). Presented in association with the “Small Wonders” exhibit on view through September 17. Free with museum admission.
Songes et Mençonges:
Medieval visions and dreams of prophecy, love and folly
Aug 25, 2017
8:15pm
Martinskirche
Basel, Switzerland
Basel, Switzerland
The Boston Camerata makes its long awaited debut in Switzerland. Anne Azéma and her colleagues will open the Basel Early Music Festival with a newly commissioned program of songs from the Middle Ages, exploring the themes of sleep and dreams, including works by the visionary Hildegard of Bingen.
Liberty and Love:
A Summer Sampler
We offer a summer buffet of music for our Maine friends, plus a sneak preview of our 2017-18 season! An opening set of love songs, chants, and spirituals from medieval France is followed by a feast of home-cooked ballads, Revolutionary partsongs, and paeans to American heroes, including pieces from the earliest Maine songbooks.
Jul 29, 2017
2:00pm
We offer a summer buffet of music for our Maine friends, plus a sneak preview of Boston Camerata’s 2017-18 season! An opening set of love songs, chants, and spirituals from medieval France is followed by a feast of home-cooked ballads, Revolutionary partsongs, and paeans to American heroes, including pieces from the earliest Maine songbooks.
Tristan & Iseult:
A Medieval Romance in Poetry and Music
Jul 8, 2017
8:00pm
Rockport Chamber Music Festival presents Camerata’s groundbreaking telling of the Tristan and Iseult legend. Based on the original 12th-century sources, this medieval romance with narration weaves original elements together with staging and light for a truly unique concert experience.
Anne Azéma as Iseult
Sumner Thompson as Tristan
Clare McNamara as Brangane
Jason McStoots as Mark
Joel Cohen as the Narrator
with Susanne Ansorg, vielle
lighting design by Peter Torpey.
Anne Azéma as Iseult
Sumner Thompson as Tristan
Clare McNamara as Brangane
Jason McStoots as Mark
Joel Cohen as the Narrator
with Susanne Ansorg, vielle
lighting design by Peter Torpey.
Treasures of Devotion:
Spiritual Song in Northern Europe 1500-1540
Mar 26, 2017
1:00pm
The Cloisters
New York, NY
New York, NY
Music of personal devotion from the early Renaissance, reflecting the spirituality of homes, family circles, and small chapels in an age of intense religious renewal. Prayers, songs, chants, including music for the Virgin, meditations on the cross, and astonishing reworkings of the day’s popular melodies to sacred texts by Josquin, Agricola, Compère, Senfl, Clemens non Papa, and others. Anne Azéma, director, voice; Michael Barrett, voice, lute; Daniel Hershey, voice; Joel Frederiksen, voice, lute; Shira Kammen, vielle, harp; Andrew Arceci and Carol Lewis, violas da gamba.
Mar 25, 2017
7:30pm
Music of personal devotion from the early Renaissance, reflecting the spirituality of homes, family circles, and small chapels in an age of intense religious renewal. Prayers, songs, chants, including music for the Virgin, meditations on the cross, and astonishing reworkings of the day’s popular melodies to sacred texts by Josquin, Agricola, Compère, Senfl, Clemens non Papa, and others. Presented in collaboration with Boston University. Anne Azéma, director, voice; Michael Barrett, voice, lute; Daniel Hershey, voice; Joel Frederiksen, voice, lute; Shira Kammen, vielle, harp; Andrew Arceci and Carol Lewis, violas da gamba.
Daniel:
A Medieval Masterpiece Revisited
Jan 31, 2017
8:00pm
Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis
St. Louis, MO
St. Louis, MO
This powerful, highly-praised production returns to Boston in 2017 as part of a national tour. The themes of justice, and of truth spoken to power, are once again front and center as the Jewish captive Daniel confronts the tyrannical Belshazzar. The magnificent musical play of Daniel, composed eight centuries ago in Beauvais, France was newly transcribed from the original manuscript source and powerfully staged for modern audiences by Anne Azéma, it was premiered in Boston in 2014 to critical and public acclaim. Presented in collaboration with Trinity Church; with the Trinity Choristers, Boston City Singers, and Longy School of Music of Bard College.
Jan 29, 2017
3:00pm
This powerful, highly-praised production returns to Boston in 2017 as part of a national tour. The themes of justice, and of truth spoken to power, are once again front and center as the Jewish captive Daniel confronts the tyrannical Belshazzar. The magnificent musical play of Daniel, composed eight centuries ago in Beauvais, France was newly transcribed from the original manuscript source and powerfully staged for modern audiences by Anne Azéma, it was premiered in Boston in 2014 to critical and public acclaim. Presented in collaboration with Trinity Church; with the Trinity Choristers, Boston City Singers, and Longy School of Music of Bard College.
Jan 26, 2017
5:00pm
St. Paul’s School
Concord, NH
Concord, NH
This powerful, highly-praised production returns to Boston in 2017 as part of a national tour. The themes of justice, and of truth spoken to power, are once again front and center as the Jewish captive Daniel confronts the tyrannical Belshazzar. The magnificent musical play of Daniel, composed eight centuries ago in Beauvais, France was newly transcribed from the original manuscript source and powerfully staged for modern audiences by Anne Azéma, it was premiered in Boston in 2014 to critical and public acclaim.
Treasures of Devotion:
Spiritual Song in Northern Europe 1500-1540
Jan 15, 2017
7:00pm
Art Gallery of Ontario
Toronto, ON, Canada
Toronto, ON, Canada
Music of personal devotion from the early Renaissance, reflecting the spirituality of homes, family circles, and small chapels in an age of intense religious renewal. Prayers, songs, chants, including music for the Virgin, meditations on the cross, and astonishing reworkings of the day’s popular melodies to sacred texts by Josquin, Agricola, Compère, Senfl, Clemens non Papa, and others. Anne Azéma, Michael Barrett, Daniel Hershey, Joel Frederiksenvoices; Andrew Arceci, Shira Kammen, Carol Lewis, viola da gamba
Jan 14, 2017
8:00pm
Music of personal devotion from the early Renaissance, reflecting the spirituality of homes, family circles, and small chapels in an age of intense religious renewal. Prayers, songs, chants, including music for the Virgin, meditations on the cross, and astonishing reworkings of the day’s popular melodies to sacred texts by Josquin, Agricola, Compère, Senfl, Clemens non Papa, and others. Anne Azéma, Michael Barrett, Daniel Hershey, Joel Frederiksen, voices; Andrew Arceci, Shira Kammen, Carol Lewis, viola da gamba.
In Dulci Jubilo:
A German Christmas
In the European North, the forests are deep; the nights are dark and long. Perhaps this is why, in reaction, the early Christmas music of the German-speaking peoples is so intensely joyful, so profoundly rich. Our program explores the marvelous music of German Christmas festivity through chants and chorales, simple carols, grandiose polyphony, and instrumental fantasias of the 15th to early 17th centuries.
Dec 19, 2016
8:00pm
In the European North, the forests are deep; the nights are dark and long. Perhaps this is why, in reaction, the early Christmas music of the German-speaking peoples is so intensely joyful, so profoundly rich. Our program explores the marvelous music of German Christmas festivity through chants and chorales, simple carols, grandiose polyphony, and instrumental fantasias of the 15th to early 17th centuries. This new program will feature the stellar Boston Camerata Wind Ensemble and an expanded consort of voices and early instruments.
Anne Azéma, Daniel Hershey, Camila Parias, Deborah Rentz-Moore, John Taylor Ward, voices; Brian Kay, Steven Lundahl, Liza Malamut, sackbuts; Nathaniel Cox, cornetto, theorbo; Carol Lewis, viola da gamba.
Dec 18, 2016
3:00pm
Union College, Memorial Chapel
Schenectady, NY
Schenectady, NY
In the European North, the forests are deep; the nights are dark and long. Perhaps this is why, in reaction, the early Christmas music of the German-speaking peoples is so intensely joyful, so profoundly rich. Our program explores the marvelous music of German Christmas festivity through chants and chorales, simple carols, grandiose polyphony, and instrumental fantasias of the 15th to early 17th centuries. This new program will feature the stellar Boston Camerata Wind Ensemble and an expanded consort of voices and early instruments.
Anne Azéma, Daniel Hershey, Camila Parias, Deborah Rentz-Moore, John Taylor Ward, voices; Brian Kay, Steven Lundahl, Liza Malamut, sackbuts; Nathaniel Cox, cornetto, theorbo; Carol Lewis, viola da gamba.
Puer Natus Est:
A Medieval Christmas
Dec 11, 2016
4:30pm
A glimpse of Christmas spirituality from Medieval France, Italy, England, and Provence, including music of the church and songs of private devotion around the joyous theme of the Nativity. Included are songs to the Virgin Mary, processionals from Saint Martial of Limoges, hymns, lyrics, and miracle ballads sung in Latin, Old French, Old Provençal, and Saxon, interlaced with Medieval English texts of the Nativity. Our cast features an extraordinary trio of women’s voices with harp and vielle.
Presented by the Da Camera Society.
A glimpse of Christmas spirituality from Medieval France, Italy, England, and Provence, including music of the church and songs of private devotion around the joyous theme of the Nativity. Included are songs to the Virgin Mary, processionals from Saint Martial of Limoges, hymns, lyrics, and miracle ballads sung in Latin, Old French, Old Provençal, and Saxon, interlaced with Medieval English texts of the Nativity. Our cast features an extraordinary trio of women’s voices with harp and vielle.
Presented by the Da Camera Society.
Dec 9, 2016
7:30pm
A glimpse of Christmas spirituality from Medieval France, Italy, England, and Provence, including music of the church and songs of private devotion around the joyous theme of the Nativity. Included are songs to the Virgin Mary, processionals from Saint Martial of Limoges, hymns, lyrics, and miracle ballads sung in Latin, Old French, Old Provençal, and Saxon, interlaced with Medieval English texts of the Nativity. Our cast features an extraordinary trio of women’s voices with harp and vielle.
Presented by San Diego Early Music Society.
Dante Festival at the Gardner
Oct 29, 2016
11:30am
Anne Azéma, Artistic Director, will surprise visitors to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum with impromptu renditions of vocal music from Dante’s time, including songs the great poet himself might have heard in the palaces of fourteenth-century Florence.
City of Fools:
Medieval Songs of Rule and Misrule
Shortly before an important American election, this new program of songs and poems from the Middle Ages evokes the age-old themes of justice and corruption in the public sphere. Minstrel songs from medieval France, Provençe, and Germany, amazingly contemporary in their language, provide an amusing and sharply-etched perspective on our current travails. Includes pungent selections from the Play of Daniel, Carmina Burana, and Roman de Fauvel; works by gifted musican-poets Philippe le Chancelier, Bertran de Born, and Thibault de Champagne; and a very American ending.
Oct 22, 2016
8:00pm
Shortly before an important American election, this new program of songs and poems from the Middle Ages evokes the age-old themes of justice and corruption in the public sphere. Minstrel songs from medieval France, Provençe, and Germany, amazingly contemporary in their language, provide an amusing and sharply-etched perspective on our current travails. Includes pungent selections from the Play of Daniel, Carmina Burana, and Roman de Fauvel; works by gifted musican-poets Philippe le Chancelier, Bertran de Born, and Thibault de Champagne; and a very American ending.
Anne Azéma, director, voice, hurdy-gurdy; Jordan Weatherston Pitts voice; Christa Patton, winds, harp; Shira Kammen, vielle, harp; Joel Cohen, narrator, lauta; with young professionals from the Longy School of Music of Bard College.
The Sacred Bridge
Jul 25, 2016
8:00pm
Igreja da Sé
São Luis, Brazil
São Luis, Brazil
The Camerata presents our beloved interfaith program “The Sacred Bridge” at the Festival de Música Barroca de Alcântara. Experience the connections of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian music and spirituality of medieval Europe.
Anne Azéma, voice, director; Joel Cohen, lauta, voice; Boujemaa Razgui, ney, oud, voice.
Jul 23, 2016
8:00pm
Igreja do Carmo
Alcântara, Brazil
Alcântara, Brazil
The Camerata presents our beloved interfaith program “The Sacred Bridge” at the Festival de Música Barroca de Alcântara. Experience the connections of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian music and spirituality of medieval Europe.
Anne Azéma, voice, director; Joel Cohen, lauta, voice; Boujemaa Razgui, ney, oud, voice.
Alcantara Historical Museum
Alcântara, Brazil
Alcântara, Brazil
The Camerata presents our beloved interfaith program “The Sacred Bridge” at the Festival de Música Barroca de Alcântara. Experience the connections of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian music and spirituality of medieval Europe.
Anne Azéma, voice, director; Joel Cohen, lauta, voice; Boujemaa Razgui, ney, oud, voice.
The American Vocalist
May 22, 2016
3:00pm
Camerata’s pioneering exploration of folk hymnody in the young Republic includes spiritual songs, hymns, and anthems in a vigorous and authentic homegrown manner. This style, recalling many elements of European early music, grew up in the singing schools of colonial New England, travelled South and West in the 19th century, and continues to live on thanks to a new generation of motivated singers in all parts of the country. This collaboration with the newly-renovated Cathedral Church of St. Paul includes singers from local parish choirs.
The Night’s Tale:
A Tournament of Love
Apr 17, 2016
7:00pm
Another astonishing music-theater production by Artistic Director Anne Azéma. Based on an authentic, colorful narrative of festivity, tournaments, and love games in a medieval French castle, our performance captures the day’s celebrations through song and gesture. Daylight is the domain of men, who joust and fight in ritual encounters, as the women shout encouragement; when night falls, the women converse in music and dance, far from the masculine violence of the daytime. Mutual longing aroused during the day culminates in the evening’s rites, as the sexes come together in courtship, both playful and passionate. Camerata’s musicians are joined by graduate students from the Longy School of Music of Bard College in this beautiful and intense evocation of medieval desire.
Produced in partnership with Longy School of Music of Bard College.
Apr 16, 2016
8:00pm
Another astonishing music-theater production by Artistic Director Anne Azéma. Based on an authentic, colorful narrative of festivity, tournaments, and love games in a medieval French castle, our performance captures the day’s celebrations through song and gesture. Daylight is the domain of men, who joust and fight in ritual encounters, as the women shout encouragement; when night falls, the women converse in music and dance, far from the masculine violence of the daytime. Mutual longing aroused during the day culminates in the evening’s rites, as the sexes come together in courtship, both playful and passionate. Camerata’s musicians are joined by graduate students from the Longy School of Music of Bard College in this beautiful and intense evocation of medieval desire.
Produced in partnership with Longy School of Music of Bard College.
Pre-concert lecture April 16 at 7pm – Nancy Regalado (NYU). Wolfinsohn Room.
A Mediterranean Christmas
Dec 21, 2015
8:00pm
The Christmas narrative retold using songs, chants, and instrumental pieces from the countries of the Mediterranean basin: Spain, Italy, and southern France, as well as north Africa and the Holy Land. Works are drawn from medieval manuscripts and more recent, though still archaic, folklore and oral traditions. With voices, early instruments of Europe and the Middle East, and readings of the Christmas story. Camerata is joined by SHARQ Arabic Ensemble.
Anne Azéma – voice, hurdy-gurdy & director
Camila Parias – voice
Deborah Rentz-Moore – voice
Steven Lundahl – brass, recorder
Karim Nagi – percussion, voice
Boujemaa Ragui – oud, ney, voice, percussion
Mehmet Sanlikol – voice, oud
Beth Bahia Cohen – vielle
Dec 20, 2015
3:00pm
Union College, Memorial Chapel
Schenectady, NY
Schenectady, NY
The Christmas narrative retold using songs, chants, and instrumental pieces from the countries of the Mediterranean basin: Spain, Italy, and southern France, as well as north Africa and the Holy Land. Works are drawn from medieval manuscripts and more recent, though still archaic, folklore and oral traditions. With voices, early instruments of Europe and the Middle East, and readings of the Christmas story. Camerata is joined by SHARQ Arabic Ensemble.
Anne Azéma – voice, hurdy-gurdy & director
Camila Parias – voice
Deborah Rentz-Moore – voice
Steven Lundahl – brass, recorder
Karim Nagi – percussion, voice
Boujemaa Ragui – oud, ney, voice, percussion
Mehmet Sanlikol – voice, oud
Beth Bahia Cohen – vielle
Dec 19, 2015
8:00pm
The Christmas narrative retold using songs, chants, and instrumental pieces from the countries of the Mediterranean basin: Spain, Italy, and southern France, as well as north Africa and the Holy Land. Works are drawn from medieval manuscripts and more recent, though still archaic, folklore and oral traditions. With voices, early instruments of Europe and the Middle East, and readings of the Christmas story. Camerata is joined by SHARQ Arabic Ensemble.
Anne Azéma – voice, hurdy-gurdy & director
Camila Parias – voice
Deborah Rentz-Moore – voice
Steven Lundahl – brass, recorder
Karim Nagi – percussion, voice
Boujemaa Ragui – oud, ney, voice, percussion
Mehmet Sanlikol – voice, oud
Beth Bahia Cohen – vielle
Dec 18, 2015
8:00pm
The Christmas narrative retold using songs, chants, and instrumental pieces from the countries of the Mediterranean basin: Spain, Italy, and southern France, as well as north Africa and the Holy Land. Works are drawn from medieval manuscripts and more recent, though still archaic, folklore and oral traditions. With voices, early instruments of Europe and the Middle East, and readings of the Christmas story. Camerata is joined by SHARQ Arabic Ensemble.
Anne Azéma – voice, hurdy-gurdy & director
Camila Parias – voice
Deborah Rentz-Moore – voice
Steven Lundahl – brass, recorder
Karim Nagi – percussion, voice
Boujemaa Ragui – oud, ney, voice, percussion
Mehmet Sanlikol – voice, oud
Beth Bahia Cohen – vielle
Nueva España:
Close Encounters in the New World
Oct 4, 2015
3:00pm
Latin American Baroque music at its best! This program calls attention to “the meeting places of light and beauty that did indeed exist in those terrible, hard centuries”–the Age of Exploration in the New World. Here we show the fruitful intercultural exchanges that transpired between indigenous American cultures, the Spanish, and the Africans, and indeed, this is beautiful music. Lively and driven at times by the sunny strumming of the baroque guitar and the maracas, tambourine, and claves, at other times stately with the grandeur of voices with organ. The Camerata is joined by the Trinity Choristers, Boston City Singers, and the Haitian women’s choir Les Fleurs des Caraïbes.
Oct 3, 2015
3:00pm
Latin American Baroque music at its best! This program calls attention to “the meeting places of light and beauty that did indeed exist in those terrible, hard centuries”–the Age of Exploration in the New World. Here we show the fruitful intercultural exchanges that transpired between indigenous American cultures, the Spanish, and the Africans, and indeed, this is beautiful music. Lively and driven at times by the sunny strumming of the baroque guitar and the maracas, tambourine, and claves, at other times stately with the grandeur of voices with organ. The Camerata is joined by the Trinity Choristers, Boston City Singers, and the Haitian women’s choir Les Fleurs des Caraïbes.
Patriots and Heroes:
Music of the Young Republic
Jun 18, 2015
6:00pm
Boston Athenaeum
Boston
Boston
Who are our heroes? How did they go to battle and with what songs? Whose side were they on?
A medley of early American music featuring a portrait gallery of eminent Americans, but also high spirited celebrations, of the new nation, and around the quintessential American themes of freedom and independence. This program constitutes a chapter in the Boston 2015 celebrations of the Marquis de Lafayette and the historic return of his rebuilt 18th century “freedom frigate”, the Hermione.
Drawing on original print and manuscript sources, we will include songs in celebration of Lafayette’s friends and associates, Washington and Jefferson, as well as both American and French compositions reflecting the social and political climate of the turbulent years 1775-1830. Liberty, martial glory, loyalty, and a healthy dose of satire and irreverence are all present in the lively ballads and broadsides of that crucial time.
Anne Azéma (director), Camila Parias, Deborah Rentz-Moore, Daniel Hershey, and John Taylor Ward, voices, are joined by Sarah Darling, violin and
Libor Dudas, fortepiano.
Carmina Burana
Jun 5, 2015
7:30pm
Drawing on the original 13th-century manuscript, The Boston Camerata’s Carmina Burana presents a panoramic portrait of student and clerical life in medieval Europe: paeans to the Goddess Fortune, funny and ferocious critiques of Church and State, earnest meditations on truth and righteousness, and a generous serving of songs about drinking, gambling and amorous adventure. With its usual verve and vivacity, the Camerata gives a deepened, in turn exuberant and contemplative reading of this manuscript, under the direction of vocalist Anne Azéma. Our stellar cast (Anne Azéma, Daniel Hershey, Don Wilkinson, voice; Shira Kammen, strings) is joined by students from the Festival’s apprentice program.
May 9, 2015
7:30pm
As a prelude to Carl Orff’s extravagant Carmina Burana, Boston Camerata presents a vivacious portrait of student and clerical life in medieval Europe. This joint concert with the Cape Symphony features Anne Azéma, Joel Cohen, Dan Hershey and Taylor Ward.
Apr 11, 2015
3:00pm
Drawing on the original 13th-century manuscript, The Boston Camerata’s Carmina Burana presents a panoramic portrait of student and clerical life in medieval Europe: paeans to the Goddess Fortune, funny and ferocious critiques of Church and State, earnest meditations on truth and righteousness, and a generous serving of songs about drinking, gambling and amorous adventure. With its usual verve and vivacity, the Camerata gives a deepened, in turn exuberant and contemplative reading of this manuscript, under the direction of vocalist Anne Azéma. Our stellar cast (Anne Azéma, Joel Frederiksen, Tim Evans, voice; Shira Kammen and Susanne Ansorg, strings) will be assisted by a conservatory student choir from Paris.
Mar 28, 2015
4:00pm
Hannaford Hall, USM Campus
Portland, ME
Portland, ME
Back by popular demand! An interfaith celebration unlike any other. Discover with us the common musical roots of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, and the astonishing and beautiful interactions among these traditions. Our program includes elements of Jewish liturgy, Gregorian and Koranic chant, songs and texts of Jewish minstrels, Sephardic folksong, medieval Spanish Cantigas, and Judaeo-Islamic music from the ancient Andalusian tradition. The Boston Camerata is joined by Sharq Arabic Music Ensemble.
Concert runtime 1 hour 45 min
Of All the Flowers:
Sacred and Secular Song of the Later Middle Ages
Mar 6, 2015
8:00pm
MIT Walker Memorial Hall
Cambridge, MA
Cambridge, MA
The constantly evolving and inventive musical minds of Italian and French masters during the fourteenth century has left us with repertoires, both sacred and secular, that successfully unite the search for new and different creative paths with astonishing lyricism and sensual beauty. In this specially commissioned program for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, you will hear music spanning the worlds of God and Man, by the greatest composers of their day: Machaut, Landini, da Bologna, and others, performed by Camerata’s virtuoso soloists and instrumentalists.
Portes du Ciel (Gates of Heaven):
Spiritual Songs from Medieval France
Mar 1, 2015
3:00pm
The Cloisters
New York, NY
New York, NY
Sold Out!
Sold Out!
Close to Reims, the regions of Champagne, Picardy, and Lorraine brought forth an abundant harvest of song in French, both secular and sacred. The subject of “Heaven’s Gate” is the magnificent repertoire, composed in both the courtly and popularizing manners, in praise of the Virgin Mary. Noble songs in the refined trouvère style, narrations in word and song, and dance music with sacred texts, are all included in this production. The prior of Vic-sur-Aisne, Gauthier de Coincy (1177/8-1236), a passionate and prolix musician-poet, recounts the miracles of the Virgin that took place in his parish; Thibault de Champagne (1201-1253), count of Champagne and king of Navarra, praises the Queen of Heaven in the most elegant and subtle style; while anonymous minstrels transform the worldly songs of the day into vigorous, toe-tapping spirituals.
Dec 13, 2014
7:30pm
First Presbyterian Church
Asheville, NC
Asheville, NC
To celebrate our 60th Anniversary, our Christmas program features music from our very own tradition. From the early years of the American republic, and from a wide range of early tune books and manuscripts, a generous selection of carols, New England anthems, Southern folk hymns and religious ballads for the season.
Puer Natus Est:
A Medieval Christmas
Dec 7, 2014
5:00pm
Eglise Saint Pierre Le Jeune Protestant
Strasbourg, France
Strasbourg, France
Dec 6, 2014
7:00pm
Église Sainte Croix
Grussenheim, France
Grussenheim, France
Dec 5, 2014
8:30pm
Eglise Protestante
Haguenau, France
Haguenau, France
Camerata’s chamber music version of this, our best-known holiday program, features three angelic women’s voices and instrumentalists. Our performance presents magnificent medieval song and poetry from the mid-winter celebration of Christ’s nativity, with a look as well at the pagan celebrations of winter solstice. Countries represented include France, England, Italy, Provence, and Germany. This production will include also a distaff choir from Mission Voix Alsace.
Daniel:
A Medieval Masterpiece Revisited
Nov 23, 2014
3:00pm
The prophecies, tribulations, and triumph of the young Biblical hero Daniel, as retold in music from medieval Beauvais. Probably the most powerful and musically evocative of all the medieval mystery plays, in a splendid new production conceived by Anne Azéma. A translation of the play can be viewed here and downloaded here.
Nov 21, 2014
7:30pm
The prophecies, tribulations, and triumph of the young Biblical hero Daniel, as retold in music from medieval Beauvais. Probably the most powerful and musically evocative of all the medieval mystery plays, in a splendid new production conceived by Anne Azéma. A translation of the play can be viewed here and downloaded here.