Eric Jacobsen

Conductor and cellist Eric Jacobsen co-founded Brooklyn Rider and The Knights and remains associated with these innovative ensembles. He is also a member of the Silkroad Ensemble headed by Yo-Yo Ma, playing cello with and conducting the group. In the fall of 2014, Jacobsen began appointments as the principal conductor of Connecticut's Greater Bridgeport Symphony and as an artistic partner at the Northwest Sinfonietta. A year later, he began a five-year term as the music director of the Orlando Philharmonic. Jacobsen is married to folk singer-songwriter Aoife O'Donovan. Jacobsen's recording career began in 2006 when he played cello on the soundtrack of The Departed. The following year, he appeared on the Silkroad Ensemble album New Impossibilities. Jacobsen has played cello on albums by artists from beyond the classical sphere. In 2021, he conducted The Knights on a recording by Gil Shaham of the Beethoven and Brahms violin concertos.