I've been meaning to do this for a while. I'm going to keep it and update it as new events occur. I'm encouraging everyone to follow suit.
Kurt Knecht’s music has been called “derivative” and “more
academic than spiritual” by the Tampa Bay Times, and the Dallas Morning News
wrote a major story on him for having the dirtiest car in the city. When
applying for graduate schools, he was rejected by the University of Florida,
the Peabody Conservatory, and Indiana University. A long time educator, students have described
his teaching style as “useless philosophical discussions” and “having few
strengths”. One student also said that on multiple occasions throughout the semester
that Dr. Knecht is in the habit of saying , “Look at me, I’m a genius” to his
students. As a performer, he has been
yelled at by music and artistic directors from Broadway legend Anne Reinking to
Smokey Robinson’s music director. As a conductor, he once led a community
orchestra and university chorus in a performance of Holz’s Christmas Day in
which the orchestra got so lost that he had to scream out a rehearsal number in
the concert. He has also been rejected for employment by numerous organizations.
He has been fired three times from music director positions at churches, and on more than one occasion he has heard the phrase, "Kurt Knecht, as long as I am on this earth, I will never enter a church again because of you." As a young
musician, he was the first pianist to fail to win the Florida Orchestra’s Young
Artist Competition for three years in a row. At his undergraduate junior recital, each
movement of his Bach Partita was described as “improvised” and “as if you were
making up parts of each movement on the spot.” Often disheveled, he once
received a bag of groceries from a church because they mistook him for a
homeless man. He lives with his wife and their two dogs in Lincoln, NE.