Our Artists

Hailed as “intensely soulful” and a “virtuoso” by The New York Times and “spellbinding” by The New Yorker, Syrian clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh has gained international recognition for what the CBC has called his “incredibly rich sound” and his distinctive compositional voice across diverse musical genres.  He has appeared as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, among others, and has shared the stage with such musical luminaries as Yo-Yo Ma and Daniel Barenboim.  His recent compositions were commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, the Silkroad Ensemble, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Elbphilharmonie.

Harpist and climate activist Megan Conley founded Ocean Music Action in 2021 with generous support from The Knights. Megan served as the Principal Harpist of the Houston Symphony from 2015-2022, performed on the Grammy Award-winning album 'Los Super Seven,'  and studied music in Paris, France as a Fulbright scholar. While living in NYC she performed regularly with the NYC Ballet, the Orchestra of St. Lukes, and as a substitute harpist for the Broadway show ‘The Fantasticks.’With Ocean Music Action, she merges her love of music with her passion for stewardship of the planet for future generations.

Hawaiian born bassist and composer Shawn Conley grew up loving all types of music. He is a member of the Silkroad Ensemble and the The Knights orchestra. Recent projects include Silkroad’s Grammy Award-winning album Sing Me Home, an album with Gil Shaham and The Knights, the world premiere tour of Osvaldo Golijov’s Falling Out of Time, as well as an international tour of the performance-art piece The Head and the Load created by William Kentridge.

As a studio musician, he has performed on soundtracks including True Grit, Moonrise Kingdom, The Vietnam War documentary by Ken Burns, and the Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. 

Violinist and composer Colin Jacobsen is “one of the most interesting figures on the classical music scene” (Washington Post). He has forged an intriguing path in the cultural landscape of our time, collaborating with a wide range of artists while constantly finding new ways to connect with audiences.  For his work as a founding member of two game-changing ensembles – the string quartet Brooklyn Rider and orchestra The Knights – Jacobsen was  selected from among the nation’s top visual, performing, media, and literary artists to receive a prestigious United States Artists Fellowship. He is also active as an Avery Fisher Career Grant-winning soloist and has toured with Silkroad since its founding by cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Starting in the 2022/23 season, Jacobsen assumes the position of Artistic Director of Santa Fe Pro Musica, an organization with which he has had a fruitful long term association as a guest soloist and leader. 

Violinist, vocalist and composer Christina Courtin is a founding member of The Knights, based in New York, and has collaborated with Bonnie Prince Billy, Ed Sheeran, Chris Thile, Planetarium, Doyle Bramhall II, Le Ann Womack, Baaba Maal, Sara Barellies, among many others. Courtin released her first solo self-titled album in 2009 on Nonesuch records and has since made several recordings, has toured all over the world and continues to have a thriving solo career. She has sung with such artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Brooklyn Rider, and The Orlando Philharmonic and is working on an album of songs for 2024. 

Alex Sopp is a musician and artist living in Brooklyn. As the flutist of yMusic, The Knights, and NOW Ensemble, the New York Times has praised her playing as “exquisite” and “beautifully nuanced.” Comfortable in many genres, Alex has commissioned, premiered, toured, and recorded with some of the most exciting composers and songwriters of our time, including Paul Simon, Nico Muhly, Sufjan Stevens, Ben Folds, Jonsí of Sigur Ros, Philip Glass, Bruce Hornsby, Son Lux, Gabriel Kahane, St. Vincent, The Dirty Projectors, and The National. Alex made her Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Youth Symphony, and has appeared as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic. In addition to playing the flute, Alex is a singer and a visual artist. Most recently, she was a member of Paul Simon’s band for his “Farewell Tour”, providing flute, whistles, and vocal harmonies.

Dancer Maile Okamura received her training at American Ballet School in San Diego

and at San Francisco Ballet School. She danced with Boston Ballet II, Ballet Arizona,

and for over 20 years with Mark Morris Dance Group. She lives in NYC and currently dances with Pam Tanowitz Dance and Dance Heginbotham. Maile also designs and constructs costumes for dance and opera and is a content specialist at the Mark Morris Dance Group Archives. She has had the pleasure of working with Ocean Music Action since 2022.

Indian-born conservation artist Janavi Mahimtura Folmsbee settled in the beautifully diverse city of Houston, TX in 2012. She is strongly influenced by marine life, drawing inspiration from her experiences scuba diving and from the ocean itself.  Folmsbee creates ethereal, intricate shapes, meant to invite the viewer into the marine world.  Her interdisciplinary art installations transform a space and immerse one in beauty through abstraction and realism.

Folmsbee works with organizations such as the Galveston Bay Foundation, the Correa Lab, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (N.O.A.A), and the Coral Restoration Foundation to help preserve our oceans.

David Liittschwager has photographed more than a dozen assignments for National Geographic, specializing in portraiture of natural history subjects. He has published seven books and is a regular contributor to popular magazines and scientific publications. Liittschwager’s photography has been exhibited at major museums including the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and the Smithsonian National Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. 

Liittschwager collaborated with Ocean Music Action for a performance at the Moody Center for the Arts for Earth Day 2022. His incredible images of rarely-seen ocean life were projected in high definition and accompanied by a specially curated live music performance by musicians from The Knights, along with local Houston musicians and students from the Shepherd School of Music.