Boston Camerata performs "A French Christmas" at Union Dec. 17

Schenectady, N.Y. (Dec. 10, 2001) – Joel Cohen and the Boston Camerata return to the Union College Memorial Chapel on Monday, Dec. 17, at 8 p.m. to perform A French Christmas.

This is the fourteenth series performance of the Camerata, the group Chicago Tribune critics call "one of America's finest Early Music ensembles."

Music director Joel Cohen has led the Camerata since 1968. A leading authority in the field of medieval and Renaissance musical performance, he has received widespread acclaim as a performer, conductor, writer and commentator, whose style at program building has made the Boston Camerata ensemble famous on five continents. He lives in Amesbury, Mass., and in Paris, France, where he also directs the Camerata Mediterranea.

The Boston Camerata, founded in 1954, was initially associated with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. In 1974, the group began touring overseas and has maintained an international presence ever since. Recently the group has performed in France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Palestine.

In the United States, they have presented an extensive touring schedule of Early Music Festivals including repeat performances at the Tanglewood Festival and the Kalamazoo Medieval Institute. They have numerous recordings on the Erato, Harmonia Mundi, Nonesuch and Telefunken labels with worldwide distribution. They are the recipients of the coveted Grand Prix du disque for their recording based on the medieval Tristan and Iseult legend, and their recording of Jean Gilles' Requiem was a bestseller in Europe.

Perhaps their best-known work is Simple Gifts, a recording of Shaker spirituals and chants, which was the number one bestseller on the national Billboard magazine classical chart during 1995 and 1996. A second recording of Shaker songs, The Golden Harvest, was released to critical acclaim in the autumn of 2000.

Tickets, at $20 ($8 for students), are available at the Union College Office of Communications (518) 388-6490, and at the door at 7 p.m. For more information, call 372-3651.

The Union College Concert Series is made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; additional support comes from the Times Union Newspapers. Memorial Chapel is located near the center of the Union College campus. Parking is available on campus and on nearby side streets.