Gary S. Fagin, Music Director
The Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra
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What We Do
○ PERFORM CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL MUSIC IN HISTORIC LOWER MANHATTAN
○ OFFER INTERACTIVE, EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH PROGRAMS
○ PROVIDE CLASSICAL MUSIC ENSEMBLES FOR DOWNTOWN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EVENTS
This KCO performance will mark the 250th anniversary year - the semiquincentennial - of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Featured will be a world premiere by Gary S. Fagin, “Each and All,” drawing on texts about democracy by Plato, Alexis de Tocqueville, Henry Longfellow, Walt Whitman, and Abraham Lincoln.
“Charlotte: Life? or Theater?,” book and lyrics by Elise Thoron, music by Gary S. Fagin, is a one-act music-theater piece based on the life and paintings of Charlotte Salomon, the German-Jewish painter who created an astonishing visual record of her life in Berlin and France in the 1930s and 1940s, and who lost her life in Auschwitz in 1943.
“A Distant Love – Songs of John and Abigail Adams,” libretto by Terry Quinn, music by Gary S. Fagin, is based on the David McCullough biography of John Adams and the letters between John and Abigail Adams.
May 29, 2025, 7:30 PM-9:30 PM
WSA, 161 Water Street, New York City
Join the musicians of the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra, along with three stellar vocalists, and KCO Music Director and Conductor, Gary S. Fagin. The evening will showcase world and orchestral premieres performances of Fagin’s instrumental and vocal compositions, a cash bar, and a post-concert waltz accompanied by the full live orchestra with scenic views of the South Street Seaport, East River, and Brooklyn Bridge.
March 13, 2025, 6:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.
Guests were invited to a special musical soirée that took place on Thursday evening, March 13th—a preview of a program the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra is set to present in May.
March 21, 2024, 7:00 PM
Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York City
In coordination with “Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark,” a special exhibit at the Museum of Jewish Heritage highlighting the remarkable story of the rescue of Danish Jews during the Holocaust, the KCO presented “A Concert Dedicated to Courage and Compassion,” with soprano Mikaela Bennett and baritone Benjamin Davis. The concert featured the premiere of Gary S. Fagin’s “Courage to Act," honoring Henny Sinding and her boat, Gerda III. In 1943, twenty-two-year-old Henny led Gerda III’s rescue activities, saving an estimated 300 Jews via clandestine journeys across the Øresund Sound to Sweden.
News from the KCO
The full Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra sent soaring music into the majestic Winter Garden at Brookfield Place in this musical appreciation of the beauty of nature. "Music of Our Sphere" refers to Pythagoras's theory that celestial bodies make music as they move through the heavens.
Belinda Whitney has been Concertmaster of the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra since the Orchestra’s founding.
The KCO was honored to have former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara join us on stage at the Feb. 10, 2018 Renaissance & Renewal concert. A few days later, Mr. Bharara reflected on his performance with the Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra at the conclusion of his weekly podcast Stay Tuned With Preet.
