Press
“a group of instrumentalists whose collective musicianship is electrifying: full of just the right combination of wonder, play, and discovery”
The Arts Fuse
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The Arts Fuse
“Cloud Variations feels emblematic of a broader shift in contemporary performance—one in which language, sound, and technology are increasingly intertwined. Though staged only once, its debut offers a glimpse into where hybrid classical work is headed.”
— Public Seminar (December 2025)
J. Mae Barizo, Poet & Performer
Sayuri Ishida, Actor
George R. Miller, Stage Director
Yuchang Xiao, Wearable Art/Costume Design
Jessie Char & Maxwell Neely-Cohen, Sound Design
“A musical roller coaster of a journey bursting with drama, detail and invention…With pianist [Jeffrey] Kahane in top form, and conductor Eric Jacobsen and The Knights’ orchestral collective alive to the concerto’s every twist and turn, here is a dazzling concerto du jour that glows with an echilarating sense of its own clear purpose and inevitability.”
— Gramophone Magazine (November 2025)
“Dreamed up in a living room and now touring around the world, The Knights have evolved from an informal meeting of friends to a premier US-based chamber orchestra. Known for its diverse and adventurous programming that features a wide range of collaborators, The Knights have surprised and delighted audiences on the world’s iconic stages and in neighborhood parks, plazas, and bars. With a unique structure that empowers members to steer the group artistically, the ensemble delivers distinctive performances that captivate fans of classical music and beyond.”
— Carnegie Hall (2025)
“I’m loving this new piano concerto by Gabriel Kahane…He wrote this concerto, ‘Heirloom,’ for his dad, infusing it with family history and weaving in quotes from one of his own best-loved songs. The music is dressed in a colorful post-romantic style, echoes of Rachmaninoff.”
— Tom Huizenga for NPR’s All Songs Considered (2025)
“Composer/singer/songwriter Gabriel Kahane's third Nonesuch album, Heirloom, is out now…the album features a concerto for piano and chamber orchestra by the same name, written by Gabriel Kahane for his father, the conductor and pianist Jeffrey Kahane.”
— Nonesuch Records (2025)
“This form resonates personally for me because Tagalog, my mother tongue, is a Malayo-Polynesian tongue; the pantun—with its structured pattern of repetition—has been an ongoing source of inspiration for my own creative process,” said Barizo, a recipient of Opera America’s IDEA Residency for emerging librettists, per an official press release.”
— J. Mae Barizo, as quoted by David Salazar (2025)