The Knight’s Chamber Orchestra performs Homage to Bach

HUNTER – The Catskill Mountain Foundation presents The Knights Chamber Orchestra’s “Homage To Bach” at the Doctorow Center for the Arts in Hunter on Saturday, Nov. 30, at 8 p.m.

The Knights are a Grammy-nominated collection of adventurous musicians dedicated to transforming the orchestral experience and eliminating barriers between audiences and music.

Having performed and recorded with such renowned soloists as Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Béla Fleck and Gil Shaham, and appeared in venues including Vienna’s Musikverein and New York’s Carnegie Hall, recent highlights include a performance as part of the opening season of the new Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and an appearance as the first American orchestra-in-residence at the Festival du Paques in Aix-en-Provence, performing multiple concerts throughout the city, including programs with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and violinist Renaud Capucon.

The Knights recently presented a fully-staged version of Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide” in honor of his 100th birthday at both the Tanglewood Music Festival and the Ravinia Festival, and premiered The Head and the Load with international artist William Kentridge at London’s Tate Modern and New York’s Park Avenue Armory. The Knights evolved out of late-night chamber music sessions at the home of violinist Colin Jacobsen and cellist Eric Jacobsen. Since the orchestra’s incorporation in 2007, the brothers have served as its artistic directors.

In this “Homage to Bach,” The Knights look at a large range of music that was either directly or indirectly influenced by the master, including modernist giants such as Stravinsky, Ligeti and Kurtag. The virtuosity and dialogue between soloist and orchestra present in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto is a thread that is continued in Judd Greenstein’s concerto featuring The Knights’ flute soloist, Alex Sopp. Bach’s ghost makes an appearance in Colin Jacobsen’s new work, “Back in Your Cage,” as well as in Schnittke’s haunting piece, “In Memoriam Dmitri Shostakovich.” The flexibility and diverse talents of The Knights are showcased as solo and duo movements (some improvised in response to Bach) and are juxtaposed with larger ensemble works.

“These two dozen musicians from Brooklyn ... playfully combine early music with avant-garde, great classics with world music—constantly blowing away audiences because this mix is simply irresistibly refined.” —Hamburger Abendblatt (Germany)

Tickets purchased ahead are: $25, $20 seniors, and $7 for children/students. Tickets at the door are $30, $25 seniors and $7 for children/students. Visit www.catskillmtn.org or call 518- 263-2063.