WE’LL BE THERE!
BOSTON CAMERATA ANNOUNCES 2021-22 CONCERT SEASON
The Boston Camerata, under Anne Azéma’s direction, continues its pioneering musical explorations in 2021-22 with a three-concert series, ranging from the early Middle Ages to the American spiritual tradition of the nineteenth century.
We’ll be There, the November season opener, draws on early songbook sources, as well as oral traditions, to tell the story of American spiritual singing, North and South, white and black, during a crucial century of our country’s history. “The concert title evokes the struggles of the Civil War,” comments Artistic Director Anne Azéma, “but it also stands for the shared musical and spiritual experiences of America’s peoples. It also provides a unifying theme for Camerata’s ongoing work in these challenging modern times.”
This new program in the Camerata’s long series of early American productions will features Camerata’s core musicians alongside eminent collaborative artists from the African-American musical community, Longy School of Music of Bard College and Wellesley College.
A Medieval Christmas: Hodie Christus Natus Est in December celebrates two milestones: the joyful holiday season, of course, but also Camerata’s newest CD release on Harmonia Mundi, freshly recorded with a virtuosic, all-female cast. “We hope the angels on the CD cover make an appropriate visual counterpart to the heavenly medieval sounds, both recorded and live, of these works from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries,” adds Azéma.
The Camerata season concludes in March, with a fourteenth century love story. Douce Dame Jolie: Machaut’s Last Affair tells the tale of an impossible relation between the aging genius, Guillaume de Machaut, and Perônne, his ardent but too-young admirer. The bittersweet narration, ending in a paen to courtly love, advances through the words and songs of the two principals themselves. Originally a commission from the Reims Festival (France), this important production will be receiving its Boston première.
Subscribe or purchase single tickets at bostoncamerata.org.
*** Concert protocol will follow public health and venue regulations at the time of the performance, including a mask requirement if deemed necessary. In the event that performances are postponed or cancelled, all ticket buyers will receive access to an online viewing option, if available.
About The Boston Camerata
Founded in 1954, as an adjunct to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts’ musical instruments collection, The Boston Camerata is now one of the most distinguished early music groups to be functioning, and vigorously so, up to the present day.
Directed from 1969 to 2009 by Joel Cohen, and from 2009 to the present day by French-born vocalist, scholar and stage director Anne Azéma, the Boston Camerata has continued to create over more than a half-century of activity, a very large number of concert and media productions, here and abroad, live and virtual. During the pandemic period, Camerata’s innovative, online streaming productions of Baroque opera, Renaissance lutesongs, and early American Christmas music received widespread attention around the globe, and have increased the ensemble’s pre-eminence.
Recent recordings include: Treasures of Devotion, music from the early Renaissance, Free America! Songs of Resistance and Rebellion produced by Harmonia Mundi (2019). Camerata’s next release on Harmonia Mundi, A Medieval Christmas, is scheduled for the fall of 2021.
