"Good performances of contemporary art music which is inventive and serious, yet accessible and engaging, by turns lyrical, expressive and witty.  Most impressive."

Lute News (U.K.)

"He is an impressive talent in every respect; he is a strong guitarist,

a composer with a distinct voice, and a confident vocalist...                              

Her voice is especially well suited to the guitar. She has a pure, unaffected delivery..

This is a truly exceptional disc! [Woman of the Water CD]" 

Soundboard Magazine

"The whole program was incredibly graceful, delivering wonderful and wondrous music with smooth elegance. Performed entirely from memory, constantly shifting in instrumentation,

LiveOak reached that ideal: the effect of natural improvisation...This was musicmaking on the highest international level. The sheer vivacity of their program, added to the surroundings, made for a major event of the season for the packed audience - with standees, five deep."
The San Francisco Chronicle

"Nancy Knowles is a wonderful soprano who sings with passion and clarity...Frank Wallace’s renditions of instrumental works and song accompaniments are exemplary."
American Record Guide

"[LiveOak] lived up to its name...youthful suppleness and mature solidity...[Their] eloquence could not have been improved upon."
The New York Times

    "In over 25 years of writing about music on recordings and in concerts, I have rarely been as captivated and enchanted by any item as this new CD from Duo LiveOak...This is a first-rate chamber music duo with a new and refreshing twist. Its artists are steeped in early music, and Wallace's songs and duets, deftly accompanied, evoke memories of our distant cultural past, ever so gently wrapped in occasional quasi-contemporary enhancements... The CD's only major drawback is its brevity, for it ends sooner than any reasonable person who hears it would wish...Go for it!"
Classical Voice North Carolina

     "Although tons of people are writing art songs all the time, the genre rarely comes to mind as a well-spring of new music. Certainly most American music aficionados are aware of the wonderful songs of Ned Rorem, but for most new music fans the song is something of an anachronism or something best left to pop music. Sure, there are exceptions—like the recent political songs of Phil Kline—but these seem more about making connections to pop music than continuing the art song tradition.
      Then there's New Hampshire-based Frank Wallace, for whom at times it seems not only did the 20th century not happen, neither did the 19th or the 18th. Imagine contemporary musical emancipation emanating out of John Dowland, rather than Richard Wagner, and you'll begin to get an idea of where this music is coming from. But, that's a terrible over-simplification, since his lute songs and guitar songs at times also hint at flamenco and Japanese koto traditions and at one point I thought I was hearing harmonies reminiscent of Tristan, plus the poetry he sets is mostly contemporary: Theodore Roethke, Robert Creeley, etc.
      As Duo LiveOak, Wallace accompanies pure-voiced mezzo-soprano Nancy Knowles (who also has written many of the texts) and occasionally joins her in song with his baritone voice. Wait a minute? Isn't that starting to sound like a pop album, albeit an unplugged one? Perhaps this album is further proof of the meaninglessness of such terms as "classical" and "pop." Give it a listen for yourself and then decide if such distinctions still matter to you.
NewMusicBox.org (American Music Center web magazine)

    "Composer/guitarist/baritone Frank Wallace and soprano Nancy Knowles have been performing together as Duo Live Oak for years and have built quite a following for their unique programs that often include original works by Wallace, either for solo guitar or for voice. This one features an entire Wallace program, with several texts provided by Knowles, the rest by various poets, primarily 20th-century American Theodore Roethke.                                                        The songs are all well suited to Knowles' clear, warm-colored, wide-ranging soprano, and the musical settings reveal a strong focus on long-lined, lyrical melody. The guitar accompaniments obviously were conceived by one who not only knows the instrument, but is a master of it. Wallace uses articulation effects that exploit the instrument's multi-faceted technical and timbral possibilities--and indeed the guitar parts are an equal partner with the voice, supportive but often highly independent melodically and rhythmically (and often very busy). There's also a fascinating array of styles and influences at play here--none of which dominates...Spanish, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and especially the polyphonic lute-song style of Dowland are happily evident and effectively employed. ...

     [T]his very well recorded and expertly performed program is welcome...for the adventurousness and skill exemplified by both of these dedicated and personable artists in a field of music all too rarely appreciated by public and record companies."
Classics Today

"Meet Frank Wallace. He composes, sings, plays a formidable classical-romantic guitar and lute, and produces exquisite-sounding recordings. And Nancy Knowles. She sings, writes poems and sometimes lyrics, makes very arty photographs, and designs promotional material. (She's also very nice...) Together, they perform as Duo LiveOak and their new CD called Woman of the Water (songs written by Frank, of course) is terrific."
Sequenza21.com

"[LiveOak] gave a superb concert.... notable in that all of the music was written by Frank Wallace.  Wallace has a wonderful baritone - dark, fast, agile, and never overbearing. The [instrumental] part was demanding throughout - one can only marvel how he can sing as well as he does and play as well as he does, all at the same time... Nancy Knowles [sang] superbly, with excellent diction, dramatic flair, great timing, and finely spun phrasing...If you have a chance to hear LiveOak in concert, don't miss them. They are fully the equal of any of the best chamber ensembles active today. Wallace has developed a formidable compositional palette for voice and plucked string instruments, one that incorporates influences from early music to the latest avante-garde techniques. The twentieth century repertoire for voice and guitar includes many outstanding pieces by some of the century's best known composers... Wallace's work in this genre stands up well to the competition."
Boston Classical Guitar Society

"Implicit in the lute song repertoire is an intimacy of performance and a personal striving to reach out to the listener. In this well-chosen program Nancy Knowles and Frank Wallace give the listener a pleasing privacy of expression that is touching and eloquent. This is easier said than done, for the music's spareness masks the demands made on the musicians... This music must, of course, be clearly articulated and have rhythmic shape, but it suffers if it is too angular and punctuated. Knowles and Wallace, who have performed together since 1976, use a subtle range of attack, decay, and articulation that is immediately attractive and yields depth on repeated hearings... The program is extremely well sequenced, beginning with the Spanish pieces and ending with a very beautiful group of five Verdelot settings interweaved with lute pieces by Francesco da Milano..."

American Record Guide

Duo LiveOak Resonates With Original Works

     A spellbinding performance at the North Falmouth Congregational Church recently by Duo LiveOak, a creative and accomplished husband-wife team based in New Hampshire, kept the audience mesmerized... Nancy Knowles opened with a set of Sephardic wisdom songs sung with astonishing presence and breath control that were equall y present in her soulful playing of a reed flute from India.  Her soprano voice resonated in “the little white church” as if she were singing in a medieval cathedral. In their duets together, Frank Wallace displayed his wonderful, warm baritone.

     However, it is in Mr. Wallace's original pieces for the lute and the classical guitar that his gift and virtuosity are truly revealed. His elegant, complex compositions draw upon and expand the richness of both traditional and contemporary art song. A lovely, lyrical guitar solo entitled “Debil del Alba” or “Tenderness of the Dawn” delighted both the ear and the intellect with musical poetry. The duo performed three song cycles assembled from different cultures and eras. Theodore Roethke's poetry and original poems by Ms. Knowles provided much of the text. The different sets offered the listener a delicate soprano voice and lute in “Woman of the Water”, a dissonant “A Single Veil” with soprano voice and guitar, and a humorous “Bestiary” with both soprano and baritone voices and guitar.

     This wonderful evening's performance of original music by consummate poet/musicians as deeply satisfying. Duo LiveOak and Frank Wallace CDs are available on the Gyre Music label.                                                                                                                        

The Falmouth Enterprise

"...a captivating performance by Duo LiveOak...They are a very endearing and multi-talented duo. Nancy Knowles projects a warm, friendly personality to the audience and has a beautiful voice particularly suited to their repertoire--and in addition to that, she is a fine poet as well. Frank Wallace is a very confident, capable performer, at home equally on the lute and guitar; he is a sensitive musician and composer and a good baritone as well. In this performance, their ensemble was very tight."
Soundboard

"This was graceful musicmaking of a high order."
The Boston Globe

"It's a bit like inhabiting a mythical world, listening to these new songs by Frank Wallace...Woman of the Water offers the texture of early music combined with lyrics gleaned from poems by the likes of Theodore Roethke, Rumi and Robert Creeley, in addition to several by Knowles. Performed with the range and intensity of Duo LiveOak, the result is exquisite. On lute and classical guitar, Wallace brings a lyrical complexity to the music that's quite remarkable: you hear simultaneously the whole and all the parts of the whole, each note distinct. And Knowles' singing--rich, swooping and sublime--is a tangible reminder that the voice is, indeed, an instrument, one she plays with elegance and grace."
The Monadnock Ledger (NH),

"They possess powerful voices, Wallace with a deep rich baritone and Knowles with a soaring soprano. [Wallace's] accompaniment... is extremely intricate and often breathtaking. The two instrumental pieces are outstanding... For fans of renaissance and medieval song, Duo LiveOak is known to be one of the best in the business."
The Keene Sentinel (NH),

"Knowles’ exceptionally beautiful soprano carried the evening in song and declaimed poetry...Wallace was also marvelous. His rich yet gentle bass voice was always well focused. He provided rich bottom in ensemble, and was also persuasive in solos."
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Seating and standing room capacities filled, the audience overflowed onto the stage, the house floor and into the lobby. Obviously delighted by this, the Boston-based group performed with gusto...[LiveOak] has achieved a sensitivity and easy flow of ensemble...[their] versatility with historical instruments was impressive...The result was always beguiling."

The Los Angeles Times

"The singing soars, capturing the joys and melancholy of Renaissance Spain...and the instrumentals are nothing less than inspired. Lanterns of Fire is one of the best compilations of Spanish vocal music available."
Renaissance Magazine

"The singing is sublime. The sound of the ancient instruments strange but compelling, and the entire effect pleasurable in the extreme. Absolutely captivating."
The Valley Advocate (MA)

"Die anderen 'exoten' - das Hilliard Ensemble und das Bostorner LiveOak - wussten zu überzeugen... eindrücksvoll."
Die Woche (Germany)

"Eine echte Entdeckung war zweifellos die Gruppe LiveOak..."
Bayerischer Rundfunk Musikmagazin (Germany)

Clamoroso Exito de LiveOak...
"El programa presentado [fué] de gran variedad y originalidad... [LiveOak] elige un modo de tocar muy brillante y simpático...Todo ello es extremadamente agradable, desde un punto de vista europeo porque redunda en la naturalidad, espontaneidad y alegría de la música tocada y cantada, que se subraya con una actitud escénica, que hace las delicias del auditorio. Perfectamente vestidos, con gran dominio de la escena, instrumentos de gran calidad...Nancy Knowles lució su hermosísima voz de soprano y una maestría admirable de la flauta. Frank Wallace, que a una voz de bajo muy considerable une el dominio anglosajóon del falsete, demostró su capacidad con [un]gran número de instrumentos. [H]icieron gala de notable virtuosismo y conjunción a lo largo de concierto....Por todo ello, las ovaciones a LiveOak se sucedieron, muy calurosas e insistentes en medio del contento general."
El Adelantado de Segovia (Spain)

"Early music... is a way of life. To perform it, one has to have the freedom of a jazz musician. To find it, one has to be a scholar. To interpret it, one has to be a linguist, poet and student of history. [LiveOak] brought a fresh, fervent, knowledgeable approach to this art. The importance of early music cannot be overestimated, but often we turn our back on it just as we do to the music of a new generation of composers. The parallels between early music and new music are many. In early music, one can find the most complicated rhythms and harmonies possible, the most unusual textures and everything between adoration and vulgarity, two necessary balancing forces for artistic health. Wallace's overall vocalism and his command of the many plucked instruments...were especially strong, as was Knowles' dramatic presence."
The Arizona Daily Star

"…a transcendent evening of music...The church's reverberant acoustics caught the blissfully intertwining sounds of Nancy Knowles and Frank Wallace and lifted them to new heights."
The Tech (MIT)

"...when three performers can boast the talent and versatility of LiveOak and Company, staying home means missing the boat...Tuesday night's event closed this year's season with a sweep of exuberant originality...All three members sing and act simultaneously, no mean feat considering the musical difficulties of this repertoire."
The New Haven Register

"Vocally the trio was sensational. Soprano Nancy Knowles sang in a vibratoless voice of unfaltering purity, intonation and expression, displaying in addition a range of operatic proportion. Her male counterparts, Frank Wallace and Grant Herreid, provided well-matched harmonies and fine solo work of their own. Individually they were a pleasure to hear; collectively the voices were even greater than the sum. Pure artistry enhanced the way they jointly shaped the lyric with gentle swells and sharp rhythmic articulations. Moreover, their interlocking part-singing brought to mind the graceful flights of an acrobatic trio that no longer requires a net. The group's instrumental prowess was likewise world class. That is no mean feat considering they had to accompany their own busy stage actions."
Tucson Citizen

"...[N]obody could sit through this display of dramatic - and yet intensely human - virtuosity without being snared by its magic. [LiveOak has an] unusual ability to simultaneously bring early music to life and provide performances on a level of drama rarely matched on any theatrical or opera stage..."
The Tech (MIT)

"The rubric "LiveOak" conveys much about this performance, its timelessness and peaceful ambience... In a performance suffused with obvious confidence, conviction and ease, Knowles and Wallace declaim the texts clearly and precisely...[a] thoroughly authentic and delightful performance. Highly recommended."
High Performance Review

"...a highly engaging piece of theater. Ms.Knowles commands a tone of pure, full authority which is a great pleasure to hear in early music, still too much dominated by colorless women's voices. Mr. Wallace justifies his reputation as a lutenist with exquisite work on the vihuela and the saz, as well as his splendid singing... When heard together... their voices rise to an intensity and beauty which is simply breathtaking...I am eager to see the further fruits of their labors...dramatic as well as musical."
The Boston Early Music News

"Always entertaining and frequently rollicking, [the play] The Lost Spindle solves one of the major problems of early music performance - making the music accessible to a general audience...The soul of the performance, however, is the music. And LiveOak and Company is simply wonderful in this repertoire... A communal creation drawing on the talents of the LiveOak members as playwrights, comic actors, singers, instrumentalists, mask makers, costume designers, set builders, linguists, and scholars, The Lost Spindle allows early music to speak across centuries and tongues. The performance was vibrant and beautiful..."
Folio

"...this is one of the most exciting [early music groups] I have encountered in some time...[They are] able to muster a really impressive range of colors and textures...The result is one of the most fresh and invigorating early music anthologies I have heard in many a month. I can only look forward eagerly and hopefully to more of LiveOak's work...[T]his is a truly smashing release, well worth seeking and relishing."
American Record Guide

"They call themselves Duo LiveOak, and those who [have] heard them call them refreshing, enchanting and unique. Nancy Knowles, soprano, and Frank Wallace, baritone and master of many guitars. lute, etc., are husband and wife who have the talent and presence to break out of recital form to talk with their audience, to act out songs and touch on history. Knowles...sang in a ravishing voice...a voice of seamless purity... the perfect instrument to carry the elegance of this music. Frank Wallace plays his early-style guitars and the lute in intricate embellishment or romantic directness with ease, and uses his warm baritone with fascinating virtuosity...subtle nuances of tone, color and volume, always sure of a high spun pianissimo, a dramatic burst, or resounding dip to his fine deepest range."
Salem Evening News (MA)

"Beyond all the scholastic talk of making 'early music' true to its time, the litmus test of art from any period is its ability to touch us today. LiveOak demonstrated this simple truth...Their entertainment...which cast Renaissance songs into a dramatic framework based on commedia dell'arte, reflected humor in sorrow and vice-versa, reaching to the essence of the music performed and the message it contained... [sending] the audience onto the street cleansed, refreshed, and elatedly happy... [Y]ou laughed, you cried, then you laughed some more, having discovered that the one emotion is a metaphor for the other. LiveOak and Company is one of New England's most precious musical and dramatic organizations. They make early music today's music and relevant to our existence right now. Their world of artifice is truly alive."
The Tech (MIT)

"Their performance was vigorous, sincere and dramatically intense, which made an ancient and unfamiliar music accessible and enjoyable to a modern audience...LiveOak was absolutely comfortable with the music and the audience...clarity and energy characterized their concert..."
Newburyport Daily News (MA)

"Important to LiveOak's offerings, of course, was its open readiness to avoid anything in the way of mere earnest performance. [Their] intentions patently were to make the works as fresh as could be without drawing attention to cleverness...[T]his largely was vocal music, augmented to especially delightful ends by Knowles' pure soprano."
The Journal and Evening Bulletin (Providence RI)

"LiveOak illuminates the pages of medieval history with a clarity and a beauty that is remarkable...The performance has such vitality that no special knowledge of the Middle Ages or musicology is required... LiveOak engages the imagination...They release the music from the musty air of a museum and relieve the audience of the formality associated with period pieces...Each voice seems to be drawn from the earth, with a quality that is richly personal. Each has a distinctive warmth. Nancy Knowles' soprano is dramatic and pulses with energy...[T]he baritone of Frank Wallace sustains itself with fluid ease. Gracefully and boldly, with the unforced depth of a bass, Wallace is persuasive."
Cape Cod Times

"Un concierto de música antigua española difícil de olvidar y superar...La interpretación hecha por el conjunto ”La Encina” fué una demostración de una sensibilidad artística conmovedora, la belleza de cada interpretación nos sobrecogió por su pureza, por su hondo sentido histórico y artístico. {H]aciendo uso de una técnica sorprendente arrancaron notas que parecían venir del pasado, llenos de encantadora melodía. Nancy Knowles, con su coquetería, gracia y ritmo nos deleitó; cantó y recitó unos versos, que arrancaron una de las más grandes ovaciones del público asistente."
Imagen (Los Angeles)

"...[Mi] sentimiento...fue el del pasmo. Pasmo por la belleza de lo que escuchaba; por el hondo sentido artístico y cultural de tan gentil embajada."
ABC (Madrid)