Boston Camerata

“Stunning,” said the critic of the Sidney Morning Post on hearing Boston Camerata’s singers perform in Borrowed Light We were on an extended tour February-March with the Tero Saarinen Dance Company in Australia and New Zealand, ten performances in all. Huge, cheering crowds greeted the music and dance production at theaters in Perth and Wellington. The Wellington church where we gave our American Vocalist program was filled to the brim with enthusiastic fans.

“Thank you for coming here, finally, after all these years,” said one New Zealand fan to us post-concert. The reviews we saw in the papers were just as warm and welcoming: “Lustrous,” said the Wellington Dominion Post of the musical performance. “The ravishingly beautiful singing from The Boston Camerata...turns the dancers and the audience around the great wheel, moving in the ocean of love." We even got a Maori welcoming ceremony in our honor soon after our arrival in New Zealand (they sang and danced for us, we offered a Shaker song in friendly response).

And the love was reciprocal....musicians were blown away by the summer weather, the vegetation, the beaches, the animals (Anne Azéma took portraits of a wild kangaroo), the birds (ornithologist Donnie Wilkinson spotted over a hundred species, list on request), the wine (aaah, general enthusiasm), et cetera et cetera.

The only downside was the monster jetlag on returning....but we survived that trial and are looking forward to future performances with Tero and his gifted dancers. Stay tuned for announcements of the next tour!

February 1, Boston, MA – Big changes are underway at the Boston Camerata, the local early music ensemble with an international reputation.Led for the last 39 years by Joel Cohen, who has brought the group from modest beginnings to a round-the-globe touring and recording career, the Boston Camerata will be appointing the French-born Anne Azéma as its new Artistic Director.

Anne Azéma will begin her tenure in September; at the same time, Joel Cohen will assume his new role as Music Director Emeritus.

Ms. Azéma, distinguished soprano, ensemble director, and scholar, has built a major, independent career as a leading specialist in medieval song, all the while remaining closely associated for many seasons with The Boston Camerata. With Camerata she has appeared as soloist, pedagogue, and frequent guest director. She has been present on virtually all of the group’s tours and recordings since the early 1980’s, and is a co-recipient of the Grand Prix du Disque for her role as Iseult in Camerata’s production of Tristan et Iseult.

As an independent recitalist and researcher, Anne Azéma has produced five CD recordings of music from the French and Provençal middle ages, earning numerous awards and distinctions here and overseas in the process. Her recent teaching activities include extended residencies at the University of Oregon and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, as well as lectures and workshops in Germany, France, the Netherlands, and elsewhere.

Ms. Azéma will be guiding the fortunes of Camerata’s long-established in-town series, now in its 54^th year, as well as planning and leading tours and recording projects. As Music Director Emeritus, Joel Cohen will continue to perform and to offer an assisting role to the new Artistic Director.

“Anne’s presence in Camerata is a wonderful and continuing gift of musicianship and artistry,” says Ken Turino, president of the Boston Camerata’s board. “We are happily anticipating a new era as she leads us all forward.”

Anne Azéma is one of the world's leading interpreters of early vocal music. She has been acclaimed by critics on four continents for her original, passionate, and vivid approach to songs and texts of the Middle Ages.

Ms. Azéma has also been widely praised in many other repertoires, from Renaissance lute songs to Baroque sacred music to twentieth-century music theatre. De Volkskrant, an Amsterdam publication, noted that "Azéma is, in her genre, as great as Callas or Fischer Dieskau."

Since 1993, Anne Azéma has been not only the performer but also the creator of her programs. She researches and edits the repertoire, frequently transcribing the material herself from original sources. Her genuine and personal involvement with musical scholarship, combined with her performer's flair for immediacy of communication, give her recitals and recordings both a historical depth and an expressive "edge" that are unique in the field.

Ms. Azéma’s most recent work has been the production of THE NIGHT’S TALE: A TOURNAMENT OF LOVE, the result of a residency at the Arsenal of Metz during the 2005-2007 seasons. This innovative program, conceived and directed by Ms. Azéma, is based on Le Tournoi (Tournament) de Chauvency written circa 1310 by the French poet Jacques Bretel, a musical narration of a courtly celebration in the Lorraine region of France. The CD was issued late in 2007 in France, to critical acclaim.

Anne Azéma has co-directed programs for the Boston Camerata and has been a soloist with numerous ensembles, large and small, early and contemporary. Her recent festival invitations as a soloist, recitalist or director include Amsterdam, Graz, Dresden, Leipzig, Spoleto, Seville, Versailles, Jerusalem, Berlin, Boston, Bergen, Ambronay, Utrecht, Casablanca, Kyoto, Tanglewood and Tokyo. Among her teaching activities are master classes, seminars and residencies at conservatories and universities in France, Holland, Mexico and the U.S. She has contributed articles to scholarly and general audience publications. Ms Azéma's current discography numbers about thirty recordings on the Erato, Harmonia Mundi, Virgin, Nonesuch, Bridge, Calliope, Atma, K 617 and Warner labels.

“Anne Azéma understands perfectly how to bring her audience under the spell of Medieval love poetry.” --Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

“The singer Anne Azéma is the right person to clarify and actualize the hazy contours of the music of the Middle Ages, by the penetrating way in which she manages to link word and music.” --De Volkskrant, Amsterdam

"An extremely well conceived program. With the marvelous colors of her
voice, Azéma is our guide: imagination, fervor, suavity and rigor are the
essential virtues of her interpretation" --The Montpellier (France) Gazette

“Very few early musicians can play as palatably and still remain true to
their traditional method of performance. Ms Azéma is the cream of the crop.” --The New York Sun

"Beautiful and generous, with just the right touch of sensuality and
warmth that has for too long been absent in this kind of singing; the
instrumentation is ingenious." --Télérama, Paris

"Azéma is, in her genre, as great as Callas or Fischer Dieskau." --De Volkskrant (Amsterdam)

“The splendidly pure voice. . . floats out as if descending directly from Heaven. You could weep at the beauty of it. . .” --The Village Voice

“Anne Azéma is an early music soprano who can move from angelic purity to down and dirty.” --The Boston Globe

Le Tournoi de Chauvency – Une joute d’Amour en Lorraine, K617- 2007

Etoile du nord, Gauthier de Coincy, Calliope - 2003 (CD of the Year, Toronto, 10 de Répetoire)

Die Stadt der Narren, Medieval Political Songs, WDR - 2001

El Maestro, Spanish Love Songs, WDR - 2000

Provence mystique, Erato - 1998 (10 de Répertoire, **** Le Monde de la Musique, YYYYY Diapason, Grand Prix des Discophiles, nominated, ffff Télérama, 5 Classica)

Le Jeu d’amour, Erato - 1996 (10 de Répertoire, **** Le Monde de la Musique)

The Unicorn, Erato - 1994 (10 de Répertoire, Choc du Monde de la Musique, 'Critics Choice'Gramophone, YYYYY Diapason)

It was a snowy, blowy December in the American Northeast, and the bad weather even managed to blow away two of Camerata's scheduled Christmas concerts, an unwelcome first in our long history of holiday performances. But the shows that did take place, under Anne Azéma's direction, were a joy.

Winter in Europe on the days following was milder.....but we still needed coats to pose for the accompanying photo, taken outside Paris' Theatre de la Ville, where Joel and the Camerata, along with our friends from the Sharq Ensemble, performed Mediterranean Christmas for a large and vocally enthusiastic crowd. The audience in Metz the next day was equally warm and welcoming.

Camerata's winter mini-season in France continues in January with a nationally broadcast radio appearance and two performances of Tristan and Iseult; the Paris show sold out months ahead.... Oddly enough, though Tristan has toured widely in North America, Europe, and Asia, this will be the Paris première! We'll be back in Boston in February to share the magnificent Tristan legend, for the first time in many seasons, with our home audience. Meanwhile, best New Year's greetings from the other side of the puddle :-).

August 2007

THE CAMERATA’S 2007-2008 SEASON:

A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM JOEL COHEN

The Camerata and I have tried to make the upcoming 2007-2008 events special, for all the usual reasons but for one unusual one as well: The forthcoming season will be my last as Music Director of the Boston Camerata. Starting in September, 2008, I will become Music Director Emeritus, and Camerata will embark on a new and exciting chapter of its long and distinguished history.

And so, each in-town program of 2007-2008 has a symbolic value. "Renaissance Christmas" was the very first Camerata program to draw very large audiences and national attention when it made its début back in the 1970's. "Tristan and Iseult" put us on the map in Europe and Asia, and won the Grand Prix du Disque in the 1980's. And "Alla Turca", a new collaboration with a superb Turkish music ensemble, represents much of our current work on the frontier of friendly, cross-cultural dialogue with the Middle East and the Mediterranean world. More information on these not-to-be-missed events is available here.

But symbols aside, our main goal, now as ever, is to fill up each performance with beautiful music. I'm delighted to present this new season to you, happy to reaffirm my continued commitment to the success of our ensemble, and full of joyful anticipation regarding Camerata's future musical adventures.

With many affectionate wishes to our supporters,

Joel Cohen

Knoxville, Tennessee: A Medieval and Renaissance Semester with the Boston Camerata

Autumn, 2007: The Boston Camerata is packing its bags and heading South.

At the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, the Marco Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, directed by Dr. Robert Bast, has announced a Medieval and Renaissance Semester, including numerous special events for students, faculty, and the general public. The Boston Camerata is honored to have been invited for a ten-week residency in Knoxville as part of the Marco Institute semester.

Camerata director, Joel Cohen, and soprano soloist, Anne Azéma, will spend ten weeks on the U of T campus, team-teaching a course in medieval love song along with Dr. Rachel Carlson, resident musicologist. They will also be giving guest lectures and performance coaching sessions during their stay.

From mid-September to the Thanksgiving break, many other Camerata musicians will be rotating in and out of Knoxville as we present four major concert events to University members and the public at large. The repertoire for these concerts is drawn from Camerata's most important and representative productions of recent seasons, including medieval Spanish, medieval French and Provençal, early American, and Spanish New World music. Collaborating ensembles will include old Camerata friends, the Sharq Arabic Music Ensemble, the choir of the Amis de la Sagesse church of Randolph, and Hazel Somerville's excellent childrens choir in Nashville. Onsite project coordinator will be former Camerata intern, Yasmina Kamal.

The upcoming University of Tennessee residency marks Camerata's largest-scale, most ambitious educational project to date. It is an exciting challenge, an opportunity to work with some great people; and we can't wait to get started! We would love to see any Boston area friends who happen to be passing through. And yes, we will be back home in late November, ready to start the 2007-2008 concert season.

More information on Camerata's residency, with precise concert dates, is available here.

Warner Classics Reissues a Camerata "Classic"

"A marvelous recording, without rival" -- Repertoire, Paris

We are delighted that "The Sacred Bridge", still one of Camerata's most in-demand concert programs, is once again available as a CD. This Warner Classics -- Apex release is a note-for-note reissue of the original 1987 Erato recording -- in fact, if you look just south of the "Apex" mark on the CD cover, you can see the Erato epsilon, still surviving after all these years..... This program in concert has evolved quite a bit since those Erato days, and now includes the Sharq Arabic Music Ensemble as partnering musicians with Camerata. Our most recent performance of "The Sacred Bridge" took place last April in Paris, and now, a few months later, it's good to see this landmark recording newly in circulation: and available for purchase, if you wish, from our own website.

Camerata Sells Out in Paris Five Months Ahead

Our "Tristan & Iseult", programmed in 2008 for performances in France and Boston, drew worldwide attention and a Grand Prix du Disque when it first appeared as an Erato CD. And, apparently, it is still a "hot" draw to international audiences. We are pleased to learn that, as of August 1, 2007, the January 12 concert at the Théatre des Abbesses, Paris is already sold out -- which leaves our French friends with another choice, January 11 at Chaville. Failing that, they, and you, are welcome to head to Newton, Massachusetts, on February 16, or Boston on February 17. It's such beautiful music. Venez nombreux -- see you there!

"Borrowed Light": Comes to New York

Cited as "Best of 2006" by ciritics at both the New York Times and the Boston Globe, the joint production of "Borrowed Light" by the Tero Saarinen Dance Company of Helsinki, Finland and the Boston Camerata has been scheduled for a series of November performances at the reknowned Brooklyn Academy of Music.

The modern dance production, choreographed by Saarinen to original Shaker music by the Boston Camerata, was the hit of the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in July 2006, following on numerous European performances in France, Germany, England, Finland, Sweden, and Italy. The November performances at BAM will mark the New York premiere of the work.

"I love the idea of appearing at BAM," says Joel Cohen. "It's considered to be a mecca of avant garde creation and contemporary performance art. Having Camerata's music be a part of this modern-day conversation is an invigorating prospect. And of course working once again with Tero and his superb dancers is going to be an intense pleasure."

Performances of "Borrowed Light," and related events, will take place from November 7-10. More information is available here.

TO ORDER TICKETS VIA THE WEB PLEASE CLICK HERE OR PHONE OUR TICKET LINE AT 1.866.427.2092.

The Boston Camerata flies to Paris, France this weekend for a special concert reprise of its well-known "Sacred Bridge" program. Joel Cohen will lead the Camerata, assisted by the Sharq Arabic Music Ensemble, in a performance of medieval music from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim sources.

Camerata is a frequent guest in Paris concert halls. The upcoming performance on Sunday April 22, at 4 P.M. will take place under the auspices of Radio France, the French National radio, and will be given in their main concert hall in the 16th arrondissement. More information on the event is available here .

Further overseas tours by the Boston Camerata are in the advanced planning stage for the 2007-2008 season, and will be announced shortly.

The March weekend weather was cold and miserable, the streets clogged with snow and ice, but the Camerata faithful who came to the American première performances of "The Night's Tale: A Tournament of Love" were treated to something hot.

The Boston Globe reviewer used language we are more used to seeing in reviews of rock concerts: "Raucous," "gleeful," "impulsive" and "rowdy" were some of the terms he employed. "Superb...zest and elegance up front," he continued. "This group was so committed and immediate, you forgot that the music was 700 years old. That's entertainment."

The audiences for the two performances were in agreement, as spontaneous standing ovations greeted the cast each night. Rendezvous for the musicians in a little over three months, for a July reprise of the show in France. The commercial recording of this production is slated for a September release.

There was not a seat to be had for months in advance. The much-anticipated, fully staged version of Anne Azéma's Tournoi de Chauvency, to be heard in concert version next March 16 and 17 in Boston , premièred to a capacity audience in Metz , France , on the last day of Feburary, to cheers and bravos from the packed hall.

The musical production, based on a medieval narrative of a tournament in a French castle, was given a sumptuous staging by Italian-born stage director and choreographer Francesca Lattuada.

After a week of recording for the French label K617, and a second performance at the Grand Théatre of the Duchy of Luxembourg, Anne and the cast members will travel to Boston for their appearances on Camerata's subscription series.

Following the Tournoi's dress rehearsal, A Metz-based internet blogger was among the first to write down his impressions:

It is a magnificent production, influenced by Japanese No theatre, a formative influence on the Italian artist. Costumes with just the right touch of modernity, breathtaking in their richness of creativity, with totally complementary voices -- especially touching are those of baritone Marc Mauillon and soprano Jennifer Ellis Kampani. And of course, there is Anne Azéma, who has been in a medival-themed residence for three years in Metz . She is at the origin of this show, to which she offers her magnificent voice and her winning personality.

Not a single false note to the evening. We await the recording with impatience.

“A project that may very well alter the way we look at the Middle Ages….Anne Azéma's interpretation is by turns evocative and distant… a new and liberated manner imposes itself….in the course of the performance, the [performer's] outer shell falls, to reveal another body, and an interior landscape, in an evocation of the art of our own time. A dream world is present at the rendez-vous.”
Roger Tellart, Diapason , March 1 2007

“Anne Azéma's voice appears, sovereign in the ray of light, often expressing itself a capella, mastering the fiorituras and shaping a clear, rigorous, and subtly nuanced vocal line.”
Georges Masson, Liberté de l'Est , March 2, 2007

“Annie Dufresne, Jennifer Ellis Kampani, Els Jannsens, Marc Mauillon, David Newman, Stephan Olry, and Jean-Paul Rigaud, in the very sparseness of their movements, give off magnetic sensuality of love or attraction”
RL ( Metz ), February 27, 2007

Boston-area music lovers are invited to reserve their seats now for the concert version of this extraordinary new work, presented by the Boston Camerata!

TO ORDER TICKETS VIA THE WEB PLEASE CLICK HERE OR PHONE OUR TICKET LINE AT 1.866.427.2092.

Our photographs: 1. The male singers of the Tournoi cast 2. Anne Azéma and Francesca Lattuada conferring onstage during a rehearsal