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 rooted in the classical tradition and passion for artistic discovery. The Knights started with late-night chamber music reading parties with friends at the home of violinist Colin Jacobsen and cellist Eric Jacobsen. The Jacobsen brothers serve as artistic directors of The Knights, with Eric Jacobsen as conductor.

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), The Knights have toured extensively across the US and Europe since their founding in 2007. They are celebrated globally, appearing on the world’s most prestigious stages, including those at Tanglewood, the Ravinia Festival, the Kennedy Center, Vienna’s Musikverein, and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. The orchestra has collaborated with renowned soloists who include Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Béla Fleck, and Gil Shaham.

The Knights kick off the 2024 summer season with a return to the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts in Central Park, followed by performances at Ravinia and Caramoor with Aaron Diehl and Tanglewood with Emanuel Ax. Later this summer, Sony Classical releases SHORTHAND, a compilation of works by Anna Clyne featuring The Knights and distinguished guest artists. The orchestra’s 2024–2025 season at Carnegie Hall features new works commissioned as part of the Rhapsody project, a multi-year initiative inspired by the 2024 centennial of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. The ensemble will be joined by Aaron Diehl, Aoife O’Donovan, and Reena Esmail, among other esteemed collaborators. For the orchestra’s complete schedule and a list of artistic partners and collaborative projects, visit theknightsnyc.com.

Violinist and composer Colin Jacobsen is “one of the most interesting figures on the classical music scene” (The Washington Post). Since the early 2000s, he has forged an intriguing path in the cultural landscape of our time, collaborating with an astonishingly wide range of artists across diverse traditions and disciplines while constantly looking for new ways to connect with audiences. For his work as a founding member of two innovative and influential ensembles—the string quartet Brooklyn Rider and orchestra The Knights—he was selected from among the nation’s top visual, performing, media, and literary artists to receive a prestigious and substantial United States Artists Fellowship. He is also active as an Avery Fisher Career Grant–winning soloist and has toured with Silkroad since its founding by cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 2000 at Tanglewood. As a composer, he has written pieces for an eclectic mix of artists that include pianist Emanuel Ax, singers Anne Sofie von Otter and Jamie Barton, banjo-player Béla Fleck, mandolinist Avi Avital, clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, choreographers John Heginbotham and Brian Brooks, and theater group Compagnia de’ Colombari and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. In the 2022–2023 season, Mr. Jacobsen assumed the position of artistic director at Santa Fe Pro Musica, an organization with which he has had a fruitful long-term association as a guest soloist and leader.

Already well established as one of classical music’s most exciting and innovative conductors, Eric Jacobsen combines fresh interpretations of the traditional canon with cutting-edge collaborations across musical genres. Hailed by The New York Times as “an interpretive dynamo,” Mr. Jacobsen—as both a conductor and a cellist—has built a reputation for engaging audiences with innovative and collaborative programming. He is also artistic director and co-founder of The Knights, the uniquely adventurous NYC-based chamber orchestra. The ensemble, founded with his brother violinist Colin Jacobsen, grew out of late-night music reading parties with friends, good food and drink, and conversation. Current projects include a multi-year Rhapsody project as well as a residency at Carnegie Hall.

Mr. Jacobsen also currently serves as music director of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, as he continues to pioneer both orchestras’ programming and community engagement in new and exciting directions. A frequent guest conductor, Mr. Jacobsen has established continuing relationships with the Colorado Symphony, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Oregon Bach Festival, and Dresden Musikfestspiele. Recent engagements also include concerts with the Omaha Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and Grant Park Music Festival.

Mr. Jacobsen brings joy, storytelling, and a touch of humor to what he describes as “musical conversations” that delight audiences around the world, including those who do not traditionally attend classical music concerts. He is married to Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Aoife O’Donovan, and they have a daughter.

Equally at home at the piano or on the podium, Jeffrey Kahane is recognized around the world for his mastery of a diverse repertoire that ranges from J. S. Bach and Mozart to the music of our time. Since making his Carnegie Hall debut in 1983, he has given recitals at many of the nation’s major music centers.

In May 2017, Mr. Kahane completed his 20th and final season as music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He is now the orchestra’s conductor laureate. He also served as the music director of the Colorado Symphony from 2005 to 2010 and for 10 seasons was music director of the Santa Rosa Symphony. In August 2016, he was appointed music director of the Sarasota Music Festival, and he also served as the orchestra’s artistic advisor for two seasons.

Recent and upcoming engagements include a fifth play-conduct appearance with the New York Philharmonic as well as play-conduct appearances with the Houston, Colorado, and San Diego symphonies; and Indianapolis, Vancouver, and Milwaukee symphony orchestras. He makes concerto appearances with the Toronto and Cincinnati symphony orchestras, and the New World, New Jersey, Oregon, and Utah symphonies. He also appears at the Aspen Music, Mostly Mozart, Oregon Bach, and Ravinia festivals.

A native of Los Angeles and graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Mr. Kahane was the first-prize winner at the 1983 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, a finalist at the 1981 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and the recipient of a 1983 Avery Fisher Career Grant. An avid linguist who reads fluently in a number of ancient and modern languages, he received a master’s degree in classics from the University of Colorado in 2011. He is currently a professor of keyboard studies at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music.

Described as “radiant” and “expressive” (The New York Times), cellist Karen Ouzounian leads a multifaceted career as a soloist, chamber musician, collaborator, and composer. Winner of the S&R Foundation’s Washington Award, she is drawn to unusual collaborations and the development of adventurous new works, and is sought after for her openhearted, passionate, and vibrantly detailed approach to music making.

Recent projects include an experimental theater work with director Joanna Settle; the world premiere of Lembit Beecher’s cello concerto Tell Me Again with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra; the world premiere of Anna Clyne’s Shorthand for solo cello and strings with The Knights, which was subsequently released on Avie Records; the release of Kayhan Kalhor’s Blue as the Turquoise Night of Neyshabur for solo cello, kamancheh, and tabla; the development, touring, and recording of Osvaldo Golijov’s Falling Out of Time; and the digital world premiere of Mr. Beecher’s A Year to the Day, filmed for The Violin Channel with Augustin Hadelich and Nicholas Phan.

Dedicated to the art of chamber music, she was a founding member of the Aizuri Quartet for 11 years, during which time the ensemble was awarded major chamber music prizes on three continents and earned a Grammy nomination. She has toured with Musicians from Marlboro; appeared at the Ravinia Festival, Caramoor, and Ojai Music Festival; and performs regularly as a member of the Silkroad Ensemble and The Knights. Her evening-length video work In Motion—an exploration of heritage, family history, and migration through interviews, her own compositions, and collaborations with visual artists Kevork Mourad and Nomi Sasaki, and composer-percussionist Haruka Fujii—was presented by BroadBand. Recent compositions include works for the Silkroad Ensemble and Noe Music, and an upcoming work for Cantori New York. For more information, please visit karenouzounian.com.

Gabriel Kahane is a musician and storyteller whose work increasingly exists at the intersection of art and social practice. Hailed as “one of the finest songwriters of the day” by The New Yorker, he is known to haunt basement rock clubs and august concert halls alike.

Mr. Kahane has released five albums as a singer-songwriter, including his most recent LP Magnificent Bird (Nonesuch Records), hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a gorgeous, intimate collection of musical snapshots.” As a composer, he has been commissioned by many of America’s leading arts institutions, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and The Public Theater, which in 2012 presented his musical February House.

In the 2023–2024 season, Mr. Kahane embarks on a collaborative commissioning project with the Attacca Quartet, Pekka Kuusisto, and Roomful of Teeth as part of a two-year initiative with San Francisco Performances, with additional performances scheduled across the US and Europe. Season highlights include the European premiere of emergency shelter intake form in London with the BBC Concert Orchestra, duo recitals with Jeffrey Kahane, and a conducting appearance with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

A frequent collaborator across a range of musical communities, Mr. Kahane has worked with Paul Simon, Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Bird, Phoebe Bridgers, Caroline Shaw, and Chris Thile. In 2019, he was named the inaugural creative chair of the Oregon Symphony. He relocated with his family to Portland in March 2020. Their freakishly self-possessed cat, Roscoe Greebletron Jones III—when not under investigation for securities fraud—continues his fruitless attempts to monetize his Instagram account.