Hear the widely anticipated recording of Osvaldo Golijov's "Azul," performed by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and The Knights.
— Your Classical
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"Classical music does not need pointless novelties; the freedom with which the Jacobsen brothers and their troops conceive it is its greatest asset."
— concertclassic.com (France)
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“On the occasion of the Easter festival in Aix-en-Provence…passers-by were able to take the baton and lead New York ensemble The Knights, under the the amused eye of their maestro.”
— Franceinfo (France)
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"The New York ensemble that is praised in the entire world for its inventive spirit and creative freedom, multiplies the musical experiences. This is the perspective from which one has to understand the spirit of their concert, offering an original layout that allows the audience to become acquainted with all the members of the group. The concert could have carried the title "All roads lead to Bach" – and all return to him, one may add: a tribute to the great composer presented from different angles."
— DestiMed (France)
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“The music searches, reaching ever higher, whirling itself into ecstasy, and finally falls back to earth into a pool of percussion. The slow movement begins in serene meditation — a heartbeat pulse in the strings, birdsong percussion and sustained cello pitches — but it gradually blooms into a sweet thunder of brass and winds.”
— NPR
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“... 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
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“...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
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“[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
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“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
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“...the 26-member ensemble again demonstrated its polish, versatility and spirit in this and the evening’s other performances.”
— The Berkshire Eagle
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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