The Knights | Naumburg Orchestral Concerts

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Shervin Lainez

the knights naumburg orchestral concerts

Join The Knights for an evening of contemporary works, Barber's Adagio for Strings, and a Paul Simon arrangement.

On June 23, The Knights bring one of the summer's most distinctive free concerts to the Naumburg Bandshell, a program that moves from living composers to Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings to a Colin Jacobsen arrangement of Paul Simon's American Tune. No tickets, no reservations, just show up by 7:30 PM and find a spot.

The Knights are a Brooklyn-based orchestra founded by brothers Colin and Eric Jacobsen in 2007, and they've built a following well outside the classical world by treating a concert as something closer to a conversation than a performance. Their roster includes composers, arrangers, and improvisers alongside classically trained musicians, and the programs reflect that. They've played Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Musikverein, and Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie, and collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, and Béla Fleck, among others.

This year's program features violinist Tessa Lark, a 2012 Naumburg International Violin Competition winner, performing new works by Caroline Shaw, Lisa Bielawa, and Christina Courtin alongside the Barber. It's a program built almost entirely around living composers, which is rarer than it sounds for a classical concert of this profile.

This concert also marks a milestone for the Naumburg series itself. 2026 is the 100th anniversary of the Walter W. Naumburg International Competition, and Tessa Lark, who won the violin competition in 2012, is one of two past winners featured as soloists across this season's five concerts.

The concert is free and open to all. Seating is first-come, first-served. The performance will be broadcast live and streamed on WQXR for those who can't make it in person.

Event Details

• Date: June 23, 2026
• Time: 7:30 PM
• Location: Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park (mid-park at 72nd St)
• Admission: Free, no tickets or reservations required
• Seating: First-come, first-served
• Rain policy: No rain dates, held rain or shine
• Broadcast: Live on WQXR and streamed online

Program

THE KNIGHTS

COLIN AND ERIC JACOBSEN, ARTISTIC DIRECTORS

TESSA LARK, VIOLIN (WALTER W. NAUMBURG INT'L COMPETITION WINNER, 2012)

Christina Courtin (b. 1984): Rhapsody on being Giant Proof (2025)

Lisa Bielawa (b. 1968): Violin Concerto No. 2, Pulse (2025)

I. Tin Pan Alley, II. The Shapes

Tessa Lark, violin

INTERMISSION

Samuel Barber (1910-1981): Adagio for Strings (1936)

Caroline Shaw (b. 1982): The Mountain that Loved a Bird (2017)

Paul Simon (b. 1941), arr. Colin Jacobsen (b. 1978): American Tune (2020)

The Knights have performed in the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts series since June 2009.