The Knights (orchestra)
Encyclopedia
The Knights are a New York-based orchestra. While music students in the late 1990s, brothers Eric and Colin Jacobsen began regular informal chamber music readings at their home, inviting friends with a shared enthusiasm for the discovery and performance of new and historical music. These gatherings turned into public recitals and the ensemble “The Knights of the Many-Sided Table” was formed. As the number of performances increased and the group grew, the original collaborative spirit of chamber music remained. The name – now simply “The Knights” – has symbolized the orchestra’s quest: always searching out something bold and true to the music.
Members of The Knights are composers, arrangers, singer-songwriters, and improvisers who bring a range of cultural influences to the group from baroque and classical performance practice to jazz and klezmer genres to pop and indie rock music. Every player contributes in the rehearsal process and each is committed to rehearsing the music as much as it deserves. This forum for radical inquiry and in-depth preparation serves as the foundation for The Knights, which is supported by the strong camaraderie built over years of friendship.
Beginning in 2004, the ensemble received invitations from several New York presenters including Bargemusic
and Friends of the Arts’ Beethoven Festival. In 2007 The Knights presented an acclaimed Weill Hall debut as well as its first international tour of Ireland. Also in 2007, the Jacobsens established and incorporated Music Forward, an organization that sponsors unique projects or groups, including The Knights.
The orchestra has collaborated with leading artists such as Dawn Upshaw
, Susan Narucki, Gil Shaham
, singer-songwriter (and Knights violinist) Christina Courtin
, Iranian ney virtuoso Siamak Jahangiri, fiddler Mark O'Connor, and Syrian clarinetist/composer Kinan Azmeh. The Knights have served as the resident chamber orchestra of the MATA Festival for young composers, premiering new works by Christopher Tignor and Prix-de-Rome winner Yotam Haber, and worked closely with composers Lisa Bielawa
, Ljova
, and Osvaldo Golijov
.
The Knights have recorded two albums for SONY Classical, "Experience: Live from New York" with cellist Jan Vogler, and "New Worlds." They are represented by Opus3 Artists
.
Members of The Knights are composers, arrangers, singer-songwriters, and improvisers who bring a range of cultural influences to the group from baroque and classical performance practice to jazz and klezmer genres to pop and indie rock music. Every player contributes in the rehearsal process and each is committed to rehearsing the music as much as it deserves. This forum for radical inquiry and in-depth preparation serves as the foundation for The Knights, which is supported by the strong camaraderie built over years of friendship.
Beginning in 2004, the ensemble received invitations from several New York presenters including Bargemusic
Bargemusic
Bargemusic, formally known as Bargemusic, Ltd. is a classical music venue and cultural icon in Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 1977, it is housed on a converted coffee barge moored at Fulton Ferry Landing on the East River near the Brooklyn Bridge....
and Friends of the Arts’ Beethoven Festival. In 2007 The Knights presented an acclaimed Weill Hall debut as well as its first international tour of Ireland. Also in 2007, the Jacobsens established and incorporated Music Forward, an organization that sponsors unique projects or groups, including The Knights.
The orchestra has collaborated with leading artists such as Dawn Upshaw
Dawn Upshaw
Dawn Upshaw is an American soprano described as "one of the most consequential performers of our time" by the Los Angeles Times. The recipient of several Grammy Awards and Edison Prize-winning discs, Upshaw is at home both in opera and art song, and in repertoire from Baroque to contemporary...
, Susan Narucki, Gil Shaham
Gil Shaham
-Biography:Gil Shaham was born in Urbana, Illinois, while his parents, Israeli scientists, were on an academic fellowship at the University of Illinois. His father Jacob was an astrophysicist, and his mother, Meira Diskin, was a cytogeneticist. His sister is the pianist Orli Shaham. He is a...
, singer-songwriter (and Knights violinist) Christina Courtin
Christina Courtin
Christina Courtin is an American singer, violinist, and songwriter.A performer from an early age and a recent graduate of the Juilliard School, Christina Courtin released her first, self-titled, album in June 2009 on Nonesuch Records of which Patrick McKiernan of website allgigs.co.uk stated "It's...
, Iranian ney virtuoso Siamak Jahangiri, fiddler Mark O'Connor, and Syrian clarinetist/composer Kinan Azmeh. The Knights have served as the resident chamber orchestra of the MATA Festival for young composers, premiering new works by Christopher Tignor and Prix-de-Rome winner Yotam Haber, and worked closely with composers Lisa Bielawa
Lisa Bielawa
Lisa Bielawa is a composer and vocalist based in New York City. She is a 2009 Rome Prize winner in Musical Composition and spent a year composing as a Fellow at the American Academy in Rome.-Biography:...
, Ljova
Lev Zhurbin
Lev 'Ljova' Zhurbin is a composer, violist, and arranger. Ljova is the author of over 70 original compositions for classical, jazz, and folk music ensembles. He has also contributed musical scores to numerous short and feature films.Ljova immigrated to the United States in 1990 and currently...
, and Osvaldo Golijov
Osvaldo Golijov
Osvaldo Noé Golijov is a Grammy award–winning composer of classical music.-Biography:Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family that had emigrated to Argentina in the 1920s from Romania and Russia.Golijov has developed a rich musical language, the result of...
.
The Knights have recorded two albums for SONY Classical, "Experience: Live from New York" with cellist Jan Vogler, and "New Worlds." They are represented by Opus3 Artists
Opus 3 artists
Opus 3 Artists is an independent artists management firm with offices in New York City and Los Angeles, and represents several classical artists, as well as artists in the non-classical genres, such as jazz, world music, theater, dance, and special attractions. Formerly the classical music division...
.
External links
- NY Times Review 6/2/08 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/02/arts/music/02cour.html
- NY Times Review 4/2/09 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/arts/music/02mata.html
- Opus3 Artists http://www.opus3artists.com/artists/the-knights
- The Knights website http://www.theknightsnyc.com