Organ, Harpsichord, Piano
Jacob is Renate M. Thilenius Memorial Scholar in Piano and Organ at the University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel and Lecturer in Harpsichord at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He plays basso continuo on organ and harpsichord with ensembles including the Newberry Consort, Haymarket Opera, Bella Voce, and others across the Chicagoland area.
In 2023–24, Jacob performed Bach at Bond, a weekly series presenting the complete organ works of J.S. Bach following the liturgical calendar. The previous year, he performed the complete organ works of César Franck to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
As an undergraduate at Yale, he studied organ with Thomas Murray and harpsichord with Arthur Haas. He then graduated with an MM in organ performance from Yale’s School of Music/Institute of Sacred Music, where he studied with Martin Jean, taught several organ students, and served as Organ Scholar at Grace Church in New York City. He was the recipient of the ISM's 2018 Robert Baker Scholarship, and the YSM's 2019 Julia R. Sherman Memorial Prize for excellence in organ playing.
In addition to organ recitals across the U.S., Europe and Canada, Jacob has performed widely on other keyboards. He has served as artist-in-residence as organist and pianist at the Uncommon Music Festival (2016–17 and 2021 onward), and now serves on its board of directors. Based in Sitka, Alaska, The Uncommon Music Festival is "an annual chamber music festival...dedicated to equitable, accessible, community-building classical music,” programming early music alongside neglected works and new commissions by women and composers of color.
A piano accompanist (lessons, classes, and recitals) for the Yale Opera Program and numerous vocal and instrumental recitals, Jacob also performed in the Yale Temperament Viol Consort (viola da gamba) and Yale Collegium Musicum (harpsichord, organo portativo, viola da gamba, and vocals). Jacob has played harpsichord and organ continuo in recitals and productions (L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Erismena, Xerse, La Didone with the Yale Baroque Opera Project; Parnasso in Festa with the American Bach Soloists Academy; Erismena, Orontea at the Amherst Early Music Baroque Academy) across the U.S.
