The Knights Unveil 2024/2025 Highlights Featuring Carnegie Hall Concerts & More

The Knights have revealed their 2024-25 season performances. The collective of adventurous musicians are driven by an open-minded spirit of camaraderie and exploration, inspiring listeners with vibrant programs that encompass their roots in the classical tradition and passion for artistic discovery.

Highlights of The Knights' upcoming season include world premieres such as a new arrangement of Keith Jarrett's Suite from Book of Ways, new Rhapsody commissions by Michael Schachter, Allison Loggins-Hull, and Christina Courtin; plus Reena Esmail's The History of Red's New York premiere. The Knights also return to Carnegie Hall this season with vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, vocalist and guitarist Aoife O'Donovan, and pianist Aaron Diehl; and perform at Peoples' Symphony Concerts with flutist Alex Sopp.

On Thursday, October 24, 2024 at 7:30pm at Zankel Hall, The Knights begin their 2024-25 Carnegie Hall Series with a concert continuing their multi-year Rhapsody commissioning project, inspired by the centennial of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, in which several of today's most visionary composers were invited to create an original rhapsody. In this program with pianist Aaron Diehl, The Knights premiere a new arrangement by Michael P. Atkinson from Keith Jarrett's Book of Ways and a new work by Michael Schachter, alongside Beethoven's Fourth Symphony.

On Sunday, December 8, 2024 at 2:00pm, to help celebrate the 125th season of New York City's oldest and most affordable concert series, Peoples' Symphony Concerts, The Knights will offer a program of Mozart and the world premiere of a flute concerto by Allison Loggins-Hull, featuring The Knights' flutist Alex Sopp, co-commissioned by Peoples' Symphony Concerts, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Seattle Symphony. This special collaboration gives the devoted Peoples' Symphony Concerts audience the opportunity of experiencing The Knights' mission to redefine today's classical music landscape in collaboration with today's most imaginative musical voices.

On Thursday, February 20, 2025 at 7:30pm, The Knights return to Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall for a performance featuring singer-songwriter and guitarist Aoife O'Donovan. Led by conductor Eric Jacobsen, the program opens with the timeless overture to Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. The ensemble also performs Aoife O'Donovan's America, Come, an original suite inspired by the lives, letters, and speeches of women's suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt and President Woodrow Wilson in the summer of 1920, when the suffragists made their pivotal march to Tennessee. The program also includes traditional Scottish tunes interspersed throughout Felix Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony.

On Thursday, March 27, 2025 at 8:00pm, Carnegie Hall presents The Knights in a performance with GRAMMY Award winner Cécile McLorin Salvant at the Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. The program features timeless jazz ballads newly arranged by Darcy James Argue.

On Thursday, May 15, 2025 at 7:30pm, Carnegie Hall presents The Knights in the New York premiere of Reena Esmail's The History of Red, a stirring work for chamber orchestra and soprano partly inspired by Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915. The program also features the world premiere of a new work by The Knights' violinist and vocalist Christina Courtin, Dvořák's Serenade for Strings, and a piece written collaboratively by Courtin with flutist and vocalist Alex Sopp.

The Knights 2024-2025 Season Calendar

Monday, October 7, 2024

The Knights 2024 Benefit
The National Arts Club, Gramercy Park South | New York, NY
An intimate evening featuring performances by members of The Knights and special guests, including Aaron Diehl and Michael Schachter.

Thursday, October 24, 2024 at 7:30pm

The Knights at Carnegie Hall with Aaron Diehl
Zankel Hall Carnegie Hall | New York, NY
Tickets: Start at $74, through CarnegieCharge (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org, or at the Box Office on 57th Street and Seventh Avenue.
Link: www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2024/10/24/The-Knights-0730PM

Program:
Keith Jarrett arr. Michael P. Atkinson - Suite from Book of Ways [WORLD PREMIERE]
Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 60
Michael Schachter - New Work / Rhapsody [WORLD PREMIERE]
George Gershwin (arr. Michael P. Atkinson) - Rhapsody in Blue

The Knights
Colin Jacobsen, Artistic Director & violin
Eric Jacobsen, Artistic Director & conductor
Aaron Diehl, piano

Sunday, December 8, 2024 at 2:00pm

The Knights at Peoples' Symphony Concerts
The Town Hall | New York, NY
Tickets: Buy single tickets starting at $25 rear/side seating after 10/7/2024
Link: www.pscny.org/knights

Program:
W.A. Mozart - Flute Quartet No. 1 in D Major, K. 285
Allison Loggins-Hull - new flute concerto [World Premiere]
W.A. Mozart - Sinfonia concertante in E-flat for violin and viola, K. 364

The Knights
Eric Jacobsen, Artistic Director & conductor
Colin Jacobsen, Artistic Director & violin
Alex Sopp, flute
Nicholas Cords, viola

Thursday, February 20, 2025 at 7:30pm

The Knights at Carnegie Hall with Aoife O'Donovan
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY
Tickets: Start at $74, through CarnegieCharge (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org, or at the Box Office on 57th Street and Seventh Avenue.
Link: www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2025/02/20/The-Knights-0730PM

Program:
W.A. Mozart - Overture to Le Nozze di Figaro
Aoife O'Donovan, arr. Tanner Porter - America, Come, featuring Aoife O'Donovan, vocals
Felix Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56 "Scottish"
Traditional - Scottish Folk Tunes

The Knights
Eric Jacobsen, Artistic Director & conductor
Colin Jacobsen, Artistic Director & violin
Aoife O'Donovan, vocals and guitar

Thursday, March 27, 2025 at 8:00pm

An Evening with Cécile McLorin Salvant
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY
Tickets: Start at $74, through CarnegieCharge (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org, or at the Box Office on 57th Street and Seventh Avenue.
Link: www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2025/03/27/An-Evening-with-Cecile-McLorin-Salvant-0800PM

Works TBA from the Stage

Cécile McLorin Salvant, vocals
The Knights
Eric Jacobsen, Artistic Director and conductor
Colin Jacobsen, Artistic Director and violin

Thursday, May 15, 2025 at 7:30pm

The Knights at Carnegie Hall
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY
Link: www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2025/05/15/The-Knights-0730PM

Program:
Christina Courtin and Alex Sopp - Pea Pretty and the Blue
Reena Esmail - The History of Red [NEW YORK PREMIERE]
Christina Courtin - New Work / Rhapsody [WORLD PREMIERE]
Antonín Dvořák - Serenade for Strings in E major, Op. 22 B52

The Knights
Colin Jacobsen, Artistic Director & violin
Eric Jacobsen, Artistic Director
Kathryn Mueller, soprano
Christina Courtin, violin and vocals
Alex Sopp, flute and vocals

About The Knights

The Knights are a collective of adventurous musicians dedicated to transforming the orchestral experience and eliminating barriers between audiences and music. Driven by an open-minded spirit of camaraderie and exploration, they inspire listeners with vibrant programs that encompass their roots in the classical tradition and passion for artistic discovery. The orchestra has toured and recorded with renowned soloists including Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Béla Fleck, Chris Thile, and Gil Shaham, and has appeared across the world's most prestigious stages, including those at Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, Ravinia, The Kennedy Center, and the Vienna Musikverein.

The Knights evolved from late-night chamber music reading parties with friends at the home of violinist Colin Jacobsen and cellist Eric Jacobsen. The Jacobsen brothers, who are also founding members of the string quartet Brooklyn Rider, serve as artistic directors of The Knights, with Eric Jacobsen as conductor. Since incorporating in 2007, the orchestra has toured consistently across the United States and Europe.

The Knights seek to share music with a broad general public regardless of background, and the group designs programs to appeal to both loyal followers and new listeners alike. The Knights perform in traditional concert halls as well as in parks, plazas, and bars, and create unusual and adventurous partnerships across disciplines. Counted among recent highlights are fully-staged performances of Bernstein's Candide at both Tanglewood and Ravinia; the release of "The Kreutzer Project" album, and the 2023 summer season featuring performances at Central Park's Naumburg Bandshell, Tanglewood, Bryant Park, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, and Newport Classical Music Festival.

The orchestra seeks out and prioritizes collaborative partnerships with artists often underrepresented in classical music. Recent seasons have included performances with Brooklyn-based Pan Evolution Steel Orchestra, with African musicians as part of William Kentridge's The Head and the Load, and with a diverse group of contemporary composers and performers including Vijay Iyer, Kinan Azmeh, Angélica Negrón, and Jessie Montgomery, among others.

Artistic collaborators in the 2022-23 season included GRAMMY-winning countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo; violinist Ray Chen, who joined the orchestra for an eleven-stop European Tour; and genre-shattering pianist/composer Aaron Diehl, with whom The Knights released a GRAMMY-nominated album of Mary Lou Williams' Zodiac Suite in September 2023.

In 2024, The Knights continue their three-concert series presented by Carnegie Hall, featuring new works commissioned as part of the orchestra's Rhapsody project. Rhapsody is a multi-year initiative inspired by the 2024 centennial of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. The Knights' Carnegie Hall concerts this season feature mandolinist, singer, and songwriter Chris Thile, pipa legend Wu Man, piano virtuoso Jeffrey Kahane and other esteemed collaborators.

The Knights are proud to be known as "one of Brooklyn's sterling cultural products...known far beyond the borough for their relaxed virtuosity and expansive repertory" (The New Yorker). Their roster boasts musicians of remarkably diverse talents, including composers, arrangers, singer-songwriters, and improvisers, who bring a range of cultural influences to the group, from jazz and klezmer to pop and indie rock music. The unique camaraderie within the group retains the intimacy and spontaneity of chamber music in performance. Through the palpable joy and friendship in their music-making, each musician strives to include new and familiar audiences to experience this important art form. Learn more at www.theknightsnyc.com.

Photo credit:  Shervin Lainez