Events
KCO ensembles are available to play at your party or corporate gathering. To book Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra musicians for your event, please contact Gary S. Fagin, KCO music director, at info@knickerbocker-orchestra.org.
“The musicians from the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra who performed during our Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street this past summer were extraordinary. Our guests loved the music. I was pleased to support Lower Manhattan’s newest cultural institution and gratified that they were of such stellar quality.”
- Mary Ellen Pelzer, Director, South Street Seaport Museum, October 2009
Below, a KCO quintet entertains at a soiree in Tribeca.
____________________________________________________________
Recent Soirees
Maestro Gary S. Fagin conducts a KCO string quartet at Poets House as Richard Weidlich sings.
November 14, 2011
SOIREE: Musical Poetry
As the sun set over the Hudson River, more than 100 guests at the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra soiree settled into comfortable seats at Poets House and listened to a KCO string quartet, with guest artist baritone Richard Weidlich, perform songs on poems.
Before the program began, New York State Senator Daniel Squadron (right) praised the KCO and Poets House for their efforts in bringing arts to the Lower Manhattan community.
At the heart of the program, KCO conductor and music director Gary S. Fagin played a recording of poet John Masefield (1878-1967) reciting his own work, "Sea-Fever."
I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.
The recording of the poem drew to a close, and then the musicians lifted their bows and began the world premiere of Mr. Fagin's musical setting of "Sea-Fever."
Also performed were musical settings of poetry by e.e. cummings, Emily Dickinson and William Shakespeare.
Soprano Tamra Paselk sings as KCO musicians follow Maestro Fagin's cues.
This photo and the ones above: Robert Simko
May 12, 2011
SOIREE: Celebrating 350 Years of Jewish History in Lower Manhattan
Continuing its tradition of presenting programs demonstrating the rich variety of New York City history, the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra’s most recent innovative, intimate soiree-fundraiser paid tribute to 350 years of Jewish heritage in Lower Manhattan.
KCO Music Director Gary S. Fagin and KCO musicians took guests of Laurie and Howard Kaminsky on a musical tour of the great Jewish tradition in Lower Manhattan with 17th-century Spanish dances, songs of Tin Pan Alley, as well as a preview of the KCO’s June presentation of Stravinsky’s The Soldier's Tale (L’histoire du soldat). The Tribeca soiree was a smashing success, concluding with calls for the fascinating program to be duplicated elsewhere.
October 3, 2010
SOIREE: Sunday in the Park With the KCO
In this al fresco soiree hosted by KCO board member Jason Balaban and his wife Susan, KCO musicians with Music Director Gary S. Fagin performed the music of Frederic Chopin, Robert Schumann and Stephen Foster at beautiful Davis Johnson
Park in New Jersey.
October 7, 2010
SAIL: Champagne Sail on the 1916 Yawl Bernice
To benefit the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra, Pamela Tillinghast and Alex Dubitsky hosted a stunning sunset sail in New York Harbor aboard their historic yawl Bernice.
October 18, 2010
SOIREE: A Night of 19th Century Music and Literature on Duane Park
At this benefit fundraiser hosted by Madelyn Wils, Meredith Kane and Michael Connolly, master storyteller Jack Putnam recited the stirring words of Herman Melville, and musicians from the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra joined by soprano Nancy Hume and directed by Gary S. Fagin played the music of iconic 19th-century American composers.
Past Soirees
April 15, 2010
SOIREE: An Intimate Evening of Beautiful Music
Landscape architect Laura Starr hosted a full house of classical music lovers in her Duane Park loft, where KCO quartet played the music of Chopin and Schumann and soprano Jan Horvath sang the songs of Stephen Foster.
January 16, 2010
RECEPTION: Musical Tales and Adventures
Neil Gaiman, Jason Danieley and Gary S. Fagin led a crowd of fans and musicians into Southwest restaurant after the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra’s performance of “Musical Tales and Adventures” in the Winter Garden.
KCO founder Gary S. Fagin talks with author Neil Gaiman and his fiancee, performer Amanda Palmer (at left), and the married Broadway stars Jason Danieley and Marin Mazzie (at right).
Neil Gaiman, Gary S. Fagin and Jason Danieley are joined by Nancy Hume, Mr. Fagin's wife.
September 24, 2009
SOIREE: A Distant Love, Songs of John and Abigail Adams
The first KCO Soiree of Season 2, at the beautiful Tribeca home of Audrey Manley and Thomas Fritton, featured soprano Elizabeth Dabney and baritone Peter Clark singing excerpts from "A Distant Love, Songs of John and Abigail Adams" and backed by a KCO string quartet conducted by Gary S. Fagin. The music followed conversation, wine, hors d’oeuvres and an entertaining talk by Wall Street historian/pundit and John Adams biographer James Grant entitled “John Adams: Junk Bond Salesman!”
May 4, 2009
SALON: Great Music from Mozart to Broadway
World-famous jazz drummer Robby Ameen and his wife Anna Suarez hosted a fundraiser for the KCO, and cooked up a sumptuous buffet for 80 guests. The KCO musicians presented a range of 18th- and 19th-century music, including Mozart, Haydn, a lively reel, and Broadway show tunes. Tenor Mark Vietor sang “Sail Away” from the Noel Coward musical and “If I Only Had a Brain” from the Wizard of Oz. See photos below.
A KCO quartet of string players play in a Tribeca loft. Top, KCO board member Jason Balaban chats with Sue Miller, her husband Lloyd and Simon Ritter, who was nominated for a 2009 Tony award for his performance in "The Norman Conquests."