Ravinia 2022, Issue 6

CHRISTINA KERNOHAN (CLYNE); SHERVIN LAINEZ (KNIGHTS); DARIO ACOSTA (E. JACOBSEN) the opening theme of the first movement and its hymn-like second theme, and transforming them into her own language, which in Short- hand is also steeped in the atmosphere of Janáček’s quartet. My piece, Kreutzings , also makes buried allu- sions to both the Beethoven and the Janáček, but in addition deals with a central figure in this project’s narrative: the violinist and dedi- catee of Beethoven’s sonata, Rodolphe Kreut- zer. Beethoven originally wrote the piece for George Bridgetower, a British violinist of Af- rican descent with whom he premiered the piece. But after a subsequent falling out, Bee- thoven changed the dedication page to the French violinist Kreutzer, who ironically nev- er played the work, perhaps deeming it unin- telligible and unplayable at the time. However, it would be hard to find a violin- ist who hasn’t labored over Kreutzer’s Étude No. 2 and its interminable list of bowing variations (brought to popular culture in the mid-20th century by comedian and violinist Jack Benny). So, in Kreutzings , I chose to tip my hat to Kreutzer’s ghost and the obsessive nature of his étude as one aspect of a piece that goes through a number of transforma- tions and variations. –Colin Jacobsen, The Knights Anna Clyne Rodolphe Kreutzer by Carl Traugott Riedel (1809) THE KNIGHTS The Knights are a collective of adventurous musicians dedicated to transforming the orchestral experience, eliminating barriers between audiences and music with vibrant programs driven by an open-minded spirit and passion for artistic discovery. The orchestra has toured and recorded with renowned soloists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Béla Fleck, and Gil Shaham, and has appeared on major stages around the world, including at Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, Ravinia, The Kennedy Center, and Vienna’s Musikverein. The Knights evolved from late-night chamber music reading parties with friends at the home of violinist Colin and cellist Eric Jacobsen. The brothers, who are also founding members of the string quartet Brooklyn Rider, serve as artistic directors of The Knights, with Eric as conductor. Seeking to connect to the public through music broadly, regardless of background, the group designs programs to appeal to both dedicated fol- lowers and new listeners alike. The Knights perform in traditional concert halls as well as in parks, plazas, and bars, and thrive on creating partnerships across disciplines. Recent highlights include fully staged performances of Bernstein’s Candide at both Tanglewood and Ravinia; a new record- ing of the Brahms and Beethoven violin concertos with Shaham; and a full 2021 summer season in a reawakened New York City, with performances at Central Park’s Naumburg Bandshell, Bry- ant Park, Governors Island, and Green-Wood Cemetery. The orchestra seeks out and prioritizes collaborative partnerships with artists often underrepresented in classical music. Recent seasons have featured performances with African musicians as part of William Kentridge’s The Head and the Load , the Brooklyn-based Pan Evolution Steel Orchestra, and a diverse group of contempo- rary composers and performers including Vijay Iyer, Kinan Azmeh, Angélica Negrón, and Jessie Montgomery, among others. The Knights’ roster boasts musicians of remarkably diverse talents, including composers, arrangers, singer-songwriters, and improvisers, who bring a range of cul- tural 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 perfor- mance. The Knights made their Ravinia debut in 2010, and in 2012 performed three concerts later broadcast on NPR’s Performance Today . This is the ensemble’s ninth season at the festival. VIOLINS Colin Jacobsen # Alex Fortes Alex Gonzalez Nanae Iwata Laura Lutzke Yaira Matyakubova Chelsea Starbuck Smith VIOLAS Kyle Armbrust # Mario Gotoh CELLOS Karen Ouzounian # Caitlin Sullivan BASS Lizzie Burns FLUTE Alex Sopp OBOE Gustav Highstein CLARINET Agnes Marchione BASSOON Erik Höltje HORNS Michael P. Atkinson David Byrd-Marrow TRUMPET Brandon Ridenour PERCUSSION Ian Sullivan HARP Megan Conley # Ravinia Steans Music Institute alum ERIC JACOBSEN, conductor, artistic director Conductor and cellist Eric Jacobsen has built a reputation for engaging audiences with innovative and collaborative programming. He is the newly named music director of the Virginia Symphony, becoming the 12th music director in the orchestra’s 100-year history. He is also artistic director and conductor of The Knights, and serves as the music direc- tor for the Orlando Philharmonic Orches- tra. Jacobsen founded The Knights with his brother, violinist Colin Jacobsen, to foster the intimacy and camaraderie of chamber music on the orchestral stage. Recent collaborators include Itzhak Perlman, Gil Shaham, Dawn Upshaw, Susan Graham, Nicholas Phan, Emanuel Ax, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Also in demand as a guest conductor, Jacobsen has led the Baltimore and Detroit Symphony Orchestras, New World Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Deutsche Philharmonie Merck, and Tonkunstler Orchestra. Recent and upcoming highlights include a return to the Detroit Symphony for the world pre- miere of James Lee III’s Amer’ican , his La Jol- la Summerfest debut, the Virginia Symphony with Branford Marsalis, and an appearance at Wolf Trap with The Knights in a new piece by Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Aoife O’Donovan. In recent seasons, The Knights helped create the music for William Ken- tridge’s The Head and the Load at the Park Avenue Armory and performed a fully staged centennial production of Bernstein’s Candide . In the spring, they closed their season with a US tour featuring pianist Aaron Diehl. The 2021/22 Orlando Philharmonic season saw the return of the “Resonate” festival with artist-in-residence Stewart Goodyear plus a semi-staged production of Carmina burana . During the 2020/21 season, the Orlando Phil- harmonic was one of the few orchestras inter- nationally that was able to perform live con- certs, including with pianist Yuja Wang and “America, Come,” honoring the centennial of the 19th Amendment. Under Jacobsen’s baton, The Knights have developed an ex- tensive recording collection, which includes Azul , with longtime collaborator Yo-Yo Ma, as well as Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in the Grammy-nominated Gil Shaham album 1930s Violin Concertos. We Are The Knights , a documentary produced by Thirteen/WNET, premiered in 2011. RAVINIA MAGAZINE • AUGUST 29 – SEPTEMBER 18, 2022 42