Brattleboro Camerata
The Brattleboro Camerata is a chamber choir devoted to exploring the beauty and power of Renaissance-era and Renaissance-inspired music. In collaboration with Music Director Jonathan Harvey, the Brattleboro Camerata’s performances breathe new life into old music, bringing vivid and expressive intensity to innovative thematic programs that highlight canonic favorites, under-performed gems by neglected voices, and new works that allow us to see early music in a different light.
Recent programs have included concerts devoted to parallels between Renaissance pieces and later works that were influenced by them, and the music of the Renaissance in Latin America. They have highlighted music by well-known Renaissance-era composers such as Palestrina, Victoria, Lassus, and Josquin; marginalized Renaissance voices such as Vittoria Aleotti, Vicente Lusitano, Maddalena Casulana, and Juan Gutierrez de Padilla; and contemporary composers such as Reena Esmail, P.D.Q. Bach, and Kitty Brazelton.
The Camerata is currently seeking new members, and is open by audition to all singers of every voice part. We especially invite BIPOC singers, and singers of all gender identities, to join us for our next season. Our repertoire for 2023-24 will include Renaissance-era works by Josquin, Palestrina, Tallis, Morley, Casulana, Lusitano, and more, as well as later works by Giuseppe Verdi, Maurice Duruflé, Benjamin Britten, Caroline Shaw, and others.
Singers interested in learning more about the Camerata and how to get involved, or to schedule an audition, should contact Music Director Jonathan Harvey at the Brattleboro Music Center (802-257-4523; info@bmcvt.org).
Music Director, Jonathan Harvey
Dr. Jonathan Harvey is the founder and Music Director of the Brattleboro Camerata. In addition to his work with the Camerata, he is also Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choirs at Fitchburg State University, and Music Director of the Brattleboro Concert Choir.
Jonathan’s dedication to early music has inspired his research, presentations, and recordings of the music of Venetian Renaissance composer Adrian Willaert, his published work on music of Orlando di Lasso and C.P.E. Bach, and his frequent performances of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque repertoire. His commissioning projects, composer collaborations, and frequent performances of new and contemporary works are a testament to his commitment to ensuring that classical music is a living, breathing art form.
Jonathan has previously held music director positions with universities, community music organizations, and churches in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Indiana, and is a sought-after clinician and adjudicator. He is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the National Collegiate Choral Organization, College Music Society, and Chorus America, and serves as a board member and Grants Committee Chair for Choral Arts New England. He currently lives in central Massachusetts with his wife Jessica and their son Wally.
