Colin Jacobsen

Violinist Colin Jacobsen, a 2003 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, first played to critical acclaim at the age of fourteen, collaborating with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic in a performance that was hailed by The New York Times: “Jacobsen was the impressively accomplished soloist in Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy, sounding as if he were born to the instrument and its sweet, lyrical possibilities.” He recently returned to perform with the New York Philharmonic in Brahms’ Double concerto with Yo Yo Ma, David Zinman conducting. Mr. Jacobsen enjoys a diverse musical life performing as a guest soloist with orchestras worldwide and chamber musician with a number of groups including the Silk Road Ensemble, Brooklyn Rider, and the Metropolitan Museum Artists in Concert. Along with his brother Eric the cellist and conductor, he founded The Knights, a groundbreaking orchestra that recently opened the Dresden Musikfestpiele with Dawn Upshaw as guest soloist and recorded two albums for Sony Classical. As a composer/arrranger, he has written two pieces for Brooklyn Rider’s album in collaboration with Persian kemanche player, Kayhan Kalhor, (recently released on Harmonia Mundi’s World Village label) and also helped create pieces for the Silk Road Ensemble. His string quartet, Brooklesca, composed for Brooklyn Rider and recorded on the album Passport, has been heard nationwide on American Public Media’s Performance Today and called a “driving, gypsy-inflected tour de force” by host Fred Child, who also selected the album as one of the year’s top 10 classical recordings.