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| | | Nick Cords and Lev "Ljova" Zhurbin, both members of the Silk Road Ensemble and The Knights | © DAVID O'CONNOR
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They Are The Knights Under the direction of brothers Colin Jacobsen and Eric Jacobsen, a Brooklyn-based orchestra called The Knights has been garnering attention lately as a new model for classical music. Many members of the Silk Road Ensemble also perform with The Knights, and we couldn't resist featuring this half-hour documentary about the group, which aired in September on WNET Thirteen. Watch for footage of the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma playing Colin's "Ascending Bird."
Credit: THIRTEEN - New York Public Media
With commentary from Fred Child, host of "Performance Today," and our own artistic director Yo-Yo Ma, this touching video delves into the childhoods of Colin and Eric, who grew up in "a kid's paradise," backstage at the Metropolitan Opera and listening in on their parents' chamber music parties at home.
The Knights' democratic rehearsals break the orchestral mold: every member has a say in the music, and a vote. Yo-Yo describes his own collaboration with the group as "having an enormous amount of fun all along the way—which is, I think, the best way to do serious work."
More from our Ensemble members
Members of the Silk Road Ensemble undertake many projects and performances apart from their work with us. We'll see the Ensemble again for our next commissioning workshop to develop new music in January 2012, but in the meantime, we'd like to share some of what they've been up to on their own. Kojiro Umezaki and Shane Shanahan teamed up for a recent performance at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City, a showcase for art of the Himalayas. The Silk Road Ensemble was in residence at the museum in October 2006, and we are pleased to know that Silk Road-inspired music has continued there. The string quartet Brooklyn Rider will give its debut performance at Carnegie Hall, in Zankel Hall, on Monday, October 31. Jonathan Gandelsman, Nicholas Cords, Colin Jacobsen and Eric Jacobsen also belong to The Knights, as well as the Silk Road Ensemble. Cristina Pato plays the gaita on a new album, Miles Español, an exploration of the Spanish music that influenced Miles Davis. The recording brings together top jazz and Latin jazz musicians from the U.S. with Spanish flamenco musicians. Yo-Yo Ma's new album, "The Goat Rodeo Sessions," will release on October 24. Previews of the music and behind-the-scenes footage of his recording sessions with Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile can be watched on Yo-Yo's website. |