Press

“A Tempo host Rachel Katz this week chats with co-founders and artistic directors Eric and Colin Jacobsen about the [Rhapsody] initiative and the variety of composers and artists participating.”

— WWFM, The Classical Network

“The Knights are a force to be reckoned with themselves, bringing a youthful dynamism to the sometimes-staid world of classical music.”

— Nippertown

“Eric Jacobsen, the Knights’ conductor and Colin’s brother, led the group in a well-balanced, propulsive accompaniment.”

— Bachtrack

“The performances are part of the ensemble’s multi-year Rhapsody commissioning project, inspired by the 2024 centennial of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, involving commissions, performances, recordings and educational initiatives.”

— Forbes

“These performances are part of the ensemble’s three-year Rhapsody commissioning project — inspired by the upcoming 2024 centennial of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue — which involves commissions, performances, recordings, and educational initiatives.”

— The Violin Channel

“A jazz-classical portrait of the 12 star signs, the American jazz great’s suite finds its ideal realisation in Diehl and co’s lovingly performed rendition.”

— The Guardian

“First performed in 1945, the 12-part work elegantly blends classical music and jazz, and receives an excellent, overdue studio recording by the contemporary pianist and orchestra.”

— The Wall Street Journal

…On the new Mack Avenue recording, [Aaron Diehl]’s joined not by the Philharmonic, but by the adventurous chamber orchestra the Knights, which is staffed by some of the brightest younger players on the classical scene."

— The New York Times

“The program was distinguished and the playing spirited, casting the concert as a memorable addition to this summer’s classical circuit.”

— The New Criterion

“This fitting cap to a festival expressed a forward vision for music that encompassed the human story―its trials and triumphs through great music of the past and new music of the future, much of it with a distinctively American expressive voice.”

— The Boston Musical Intelligencer

“Jacobsen looks back warmly on the experience of making the work together. Getting to work on a piece with the person who wrote it, who is in the room as the musicians learn and experience the music for the first time, is an amazing gift, he said — a process that can be precise, fine-tuned and improvisational all at once.”

— By the Way Berkshires

“So when they’re joined by an audience, the musicians on stage will listen and adjust. And those audiences will know that they were not only there for the birth of, but a part of the growth of, an exciting new work.”

— The Berkshire Eagle

“In the festival ‘Archive of Desire,’ artists and musicians thoughtfully engage with the writing of Constantine P. Cavafy, a self-assessed ‘ultramodern poet.’”

— The New York Times

“The Kreutzer Project can thus be called a complete success.”

— Pizzicato

“The Knights consistently put on some of the most interesting classical concerts in New York.”

— Bach Track

The Knights Perform the first movement of Janáček’s “Kreutzer Sonata” String Quartet No. 1 - coverage by The Violin Channel.

“In the hands of Shaham and the Knights, these sumptuous tracks—recorded in 2019 at LeFrak Hall at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College in New York—are flawless.”

— Strings Magazine

“The Knights’ production was supremely satisfying and intelligent, emphasizing equally the show’s dazzling orchestral music, delicious book, glorious lyrics and carefully calibrated comic acting.”

— The Berkshire Edge

“So what happens when the awesome musicianship of the Knights combines forces with these stalwart performing artists and composers/arrangers? The audience is treated to a magical experience that will reverberate with them for a lifetime.”

— When Steel Talks