The Boston Camerata is an early music ensemble based in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. It was founded in 1954 by Narcissa Williamson, at the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

, as an adjunct to that museum's musical instrument collection. The Camerata incorporated as an independent nonprofit in 1974. It was directed from 1969 to 2008 by Joel Cohen, who remains Music Director Emeritus. Since 2008, the company's artistic director has been French-born singer and scholar

Anne Azéma Anne Azéma (born October 19, 1957) is a French-born soprano, scholar, and stage director. She is currently artistic director of the Boston Camerata. She has been an important or leading singer of early music since 1993. She has created and dire ...

. Azéma has produced several new programs with the Camerata, featuring repertoire that spans eight centuries of music. The Camerata has a regular subscription series for Boston-area residents, as well as tours in the United States and abroad. From 1992 onwards the Boston Camerata and Joel Cohen collaborated with the still-functioning

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at Sabbathday Lake (USA) and recorded together two albums (

Simple Gifts "Simple Gifts" is a Shaker song written and composed in 1848, generally attributed to Elder Joseph Brackett from Alfred Shaker Village. It became widely known when Aaron Copland used its melody for the score of Martha Graham's ballet ''Appal ...

and The Golden Harvest) of Shaker songs. In 2011, Camerata was in residence in

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, contributing five programs of medieval French music to the 800th anniversary celebration of the

Reims Cathedral Notre-Dame de Reims (; ; meaning "Our Lady of Reims"), known in English as Reims Cathedral, is a Catholic cathedral in the French city of the same name, the seat of the Archdiocese of Reims. The cathedral was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and wa ...

. Recently, the ensemble has appeared in Paris at the Palais de Chaillot in collaboration with the Tero Saarinen Company of Helsinki, Finland (2014), at the Théatre de Ville during its 60th anniversary season (2015), and at La Philharmonie de Paris (2018). ''The Night's Tale'', Azéma's innovative staged production built around a medieval tournament in France, was first presented in France and Luxembourg in 2007. It has since been performed in Boston to great acclaim in Spring 2016 and will tour in the US in 2020. The company's South American début tour took place in Brazil in July, 2016. In 2017 and 2018, the Camerata toured in Switzerland, Holland, and France and Canada and the US Midwest, including a reprise of the ''Play of Daniel'', first presented to Boston audiences in late 2014. The Camerata's recordings include programs on

Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi is a record label that specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group, which is itself owned by Universal M ...

Erato In Greek mythology, Erato (; ) is one of the Greek Muses, the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. The name would mean "desired" or "lovely", if derived from the same root as Eros, as Apollonius of Rhodes playfully sugge ...

Telefunken Telefunken was a German radio and television producer, founded in Berlin in 1903 as a joint venture between Siemens & Halske and the ''AEG (German company), Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft'' (AEG) ("General electricity company"). Prior to ...

, and

Warner Classics Warner Classics is the classical music arm of Warner Music Group. The label began issuing new recordings under the Warner Classics banner in 1991. The company also includes the Erato Records and Teldec Records labels. Based in France, Warner Cla ...

. Among the ensemble's awards are the

Grand Prix du Disque Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), ...

(1987), awarded for a medieval version of the Tristan and Iseult legend. Other media projects include two prizes at FIFA Montréal, 2014. It has undertaken museum and educational projects including a visiting artist residency at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, and The Metropolitan Museum Cloisters Concerts. It has collaborated with local choirs, both children and adults.

References

External links

Archival footage of the Boston Camerata performing with Tero Saarinen Company at Jacob's Pillow, 7/20/2004
{{authority control Early music groups Musical groups established in 1954 Musical groups from Boston American classical music groups 1954 establishments in Massachusetts