Families with young children: get to know The Knights! At our one-hour Family Matinee, your little ones will be introduced to classical music in a fun, relaxed, and interactive setting. The Knights are known for connecting with audiences of all ages and educating while entertaining. In this program, The Knights offer an intimate afternoon of beautiful German lieder (poems set to classical music) reimagined as a cabaret world of mystery. During this Family Matinee, The Knights will perform excerpts from Reinbert de Leeuw's "Im Wunderschönen Monat Mai," which includes beloved classics from Schubert and Schumann as a modern melodrama for solo voice and orchestra, featuring Mary Mackenzie (soprano).* Even if they arrive sleepy, cranky, wiggly...your little ones are guaranteed to leave happy and inspired!

*Please note that due to unforeseen circumstances, Katja Herbers is no longer able to perform. 

General Admission: Seated

The Knights are a GRAMMY nominated, Brooklyn-based orchestral collective dedicated to transforming the concert experience. Led by brothers Colin and Eric Jacobsen, and flexible in size and repertory, The Knights engage listeners and defy boundaries with programs that showcase the players’ roots in the classical tradition and passion for musical discovery. The Knights are proud to bring their Home Season to BRIC for a third year, partnering to grow orchestral music in Brooklyn. The Knights are Artists-in-Residence at BRIC, rehearsing works that will be performed at BRIC House and elsewhere and engaging with the Brooklyn community. This residency at BRIC is part of The Knights' ongoing NYC residencies program, a three-year initiative funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to help them connect even more closely with their home community. Special thank you to the Brooklyn Advisory Council, Naomi Wolfensohn & Jascha Preuss, and Linda Wasserman Aviv & Joseph Aviv for their generous support of the Family Matinee Series.

Mary Mackenzie presented Im wunderschönen Monat Mai at the Bravo Vail Festival with The Knights in 2015. A passionate performer of contemporary vocal music, Ms. Mackenzie has collaborated with Pierre Boulez, John Harbison, Richard Danielpour, and James Primosch, and works closely with young composers to develop and premiere new works for voice. As a chamber musician she has appeared with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble, the Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston, Collage New Music, the Continuum Ensemble, Ekmeles, the Borromeo String Quartet, the Da Capo Chamber Players, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, The Juilliard School’s AXIOM Ensemble and New Juilliard Ensemble, Le Train Bleu, the Metropolis Ensemble, and the Talea Ensemble. Ms. Mackenzie made her professional opera debut as Despina in Così fan tutte with Madison Opera, and has appeared as the soprano soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and the Phoenix Symphony. Her recordings include John Harbison’s Closer to My Own Life with the Albany Symphony, the debut recording of Harbison's Songs After Hours, Cathedral Music with the 21st Century Consort singing James Primosch’s Sacred Songs and Meditations (all on the Albany label); Louis Karchin: To the Sun and Stars, performing To the Sun (Bridge), and The Opera America Songbook album, performing Richard Danielpour’s Homeward. A recording of cycles by Daniel Crozier, John Harbison, James Primosch, and Ned Rorem with pianist Heidi Louise Williams will be released later this year.