The Knights Orchestra Begins its Carnegie Hall Residency

The New York-based ensemble will begin its three-concert residency at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall from October 26, 2023

Created by conductor and cellist Eric Jacobsen and violinist Colin Jacobsen in 2007, The Knights Orchestra comprises 40 musicians, who have since toured consistently across the U.S. and Europe. 

As of next week, The Knights will begin their three-concert residency at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, featuring singer-songwriter Chris Thile giving the NYC premiere of ATTENTION!, a new concerto for singing mandolinist and orchestra.

The program will also include No. 2, And So from  Caroline Shaw’s orchestral song cycle, Is A Rose; Dvořák’s “American” String Quartet No. 12 (arranged by Curtis Stewart); Colin Jacobsen’s Sheriff's Freud; and Bach’s Allegro from Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor (transcribed by Thile).

To attend the concert, click here.

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. 

On February 29, 2024, The Knights will perform with pipa player Wu Man and jazz singer-songwriter Magos Herrera, alongside Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Du Yun’s New Work for Pipa and Orchestra (co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall), and works by Ravel, Kurt Weill, Christina Courtin, Bertolt Brecht, and Chico Buarque.

The ensemble’s final Carnegie Hall residency concert on May 16, 2024, will feature pianist Jeffrey Kahane and cellist Karen Ouzounian in three premieres — Jessie Montgomery’s Rhapsody No. 2, Gabriel Kahane’s Heirloom, and Anna Clyne’s Shorthand.

Future collaborators of the project will include Anthony McGill, Kayhan Kalhor, Allison Loggins-Hull, Michael Schachter, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, among others.

“A Rhapsody is one of the most ecstatically joyful expressions of art,” the Jacobsen brothers explained. “The combination of virtuosity, improvisation, and unfettered imagination that have characterized some of the great Rhapsodies of the past, like Gershwin’s, inspired us to ask some of today’s most imaginative voices to create their own. We can’t wait to see what emerges as The Knights join together in creative partnership with this diverse set of cultural voices!”