“... The music that came from it was connected to an old myth that concerned a bird trying to fly towards the sun. Its first attempts were failures; it wasn’t until the bird shed its physical shell that it could transcend earthly limitations.”
— WQXR
Read More“...the Brooklyn-based Knights seem to have found a sweet spot with programs that meld the familiar and novel, giving their fan base a taste of discovery with each performance... judging by the near-capacity crowd and enthusiastic response, one would expect local presenters to take heed.”
— Chicago Classical Review
Read More“The orchestral playing is particularly impressive: The Knights, under the baton of Eric Jacobsen, provide both a strong force and subtle sensitive moments... The orchestra gives strength in characters, glowing and shimmering... full of ever-changing virtuosic prowess.”
— Primephonic
Read More“[Colin] Jacobsen joined the cellist Eric Jacobsen (his brother) and Ms. de la Salle for an impressive rendition of the Ravel Trio in A minor... [de la Salle’s] colorful, technically assured playing balanced the richly toned, passionate contributions of the Jacobsens.”
— The New York Times
Read More“The contemporary-music scene in New York has been generating a nearly endless stream of high-powered young ensembles over the past decade. On Sunday night, one of the most imaginative of them — a musical collective known as the Knights — came to Dumbarton Oaks as part of the museum’s Friends of Music series.”
— The Washington Post
Read More“...the 26-member ensemble again demonstrated its polish, versatility and spirit in this and the evening’s other performances.”
— The Berkshire Eagle
Read More“With roots in the workshops of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, this [The Concerto for Violin, Santur and Orchestra] glittering, propulsive piece of East–West fusion blends solo sections for santur (Persian zither) and high, driving passagework for violin with shifting textures of strings, wind and percussion.”
— The Strad
Read More“The performances, in every case spirited and vital, survived amplification and the elements surprisingly well...”
— The New York Times
Read More“[The Orchestras’] enthusiasm for showcasing music that reflects their cities, and their innovative concepts for engaging with the community outside the walls of the concert hall, to us, reflect a fundamental and positive shift in how today’s orchestras view their role in the community.”
– The New York Times
Read More“...when they performed “The Chairman Dances“, John Adam’s Foxtrot for orchestra, together, one feels how they play in one spirit. The meeting of “chairman” Mao Zedong and US president Richard Nixon, ironically put into music, leads to a rhythmical game of deception which is brought staggered by tricky syncopation. But this is no problem for The Knights; they accurately listen to each other, and they operate powerfully.”
— Darmstadter Echo
Read More“The range and inventiveness of the Knights, the New York orchestra founded and led by the brothers Eric and Colin Jacobsen, is everywhere on display in this beguiling new release.”
— SFGate
Read More“They’ve dedicated their latest album, the ground beneath our feet, to the concerto grosso. The album features both classic and new examples of the form, from Bach to Stravinsky to some of the group’s very own composers. The result is a collection of music that’s grounded in a common cause but weightless in execution.”
— Second Inversion
Read More“It’s a lovely and welcoming opener to the ground beneath our feet, a new album from the young musicians of the chamber orchestra The Knights. Bach, Stravinsky, Reich and even a couple of the ensemble’s own adventurous compositions commingle on this satisfying new release.”
— NPR
Read More“The most demanding portion of the evening arrived before intermission with The Knights’ full-steam charge aimed at the heart of John Adams’ frenetic Chamber Symphony. The driving work was inspired, in part, by the music for “The Road Runner” cartoons and left no percussive instrument untouched.”
— Tallahassee Democrat
Read More“Last Wednesday, at Pace University’s Schimmel Center, the Knights gave an expressive and exuberant performance of ‘ ...The Ground Beneath Our Feet,’ the title track of the ensemble’s new album”
— The New York Times
Read More“The conductor Robert Spano led the impressive chamber orchestra the Knights and a wonderful cast of singers taking multiple roles in a vibrant performance of the piece, directed by Mary Birnbaum... even those who lack understanding of the rudiments of harmony would surely enjoy it, while also learning something in the most entertaining way.”
— The New York Times
Read More“The Knights have earned a reputation for innovative programming; with this event, they wanted to capture the spontaneity of the concertgoing experience that was typical before the formal overture-symphony-concerto lineup became standard in the 20th century.”
— The New York Times
Read More“Genre-bending (it used to be called crossover) is all the thing in music these days.... At its best, it’s the kind of thing The Knights (and the ladies among them) do.... As important as the repertoire...was the joy in the music-making. You could see it in the players’ lithe swaying to the music and hear it in the lithe sounds that emerged.”
— The Berkshire Eagle
Read More“As played by the Knights, an excellent chamber orchestra, on Tuesday at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park, the composer and pianist Timo Andres’s take on the “Coronation” (otherwise known as the Piano Concerto No. 26 in D) felt necessary — not a lark but a surprisingly moving dazzler.”
— The New York Times
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