Joel Cohen / The Boston Camerata

In the United States, Joel Cohen is best known as the long-tenured helmsman of the Boston Camerata, and understandably so; but travel east across the Atlantic and you'll find him equally highly regarded as a lutenist, a radio broadcaster, and a producer of music films. Cohen was born in Providence, RI, in 1942 and attended Brown University and Harvard University. After leaving Harvard, he spent two years in Paris, honing his skills as a composer under the wing of Nadia Boulanger. In 1968, just one year after returning to the U.S. from France, Cohen took up the directorship of...