Bio

short (~200 words):

American conductor Jacob Aaron Schnitzer harnesses the powers of music and storytelling to connect with others. In the 2025–2026 season, Jacob will serve as Music Director of the Gateway Chamber Orchestra in Clarksville, Tennessee. He enters his ninth season as Artistic Director of Density512—hailed by Gramophone Magazine as a “crack new-music ensemble”—where he leads bold performances at the intersection of storytelling, design, and contemporary music. He also continues as Associate Conductor of The Missouri Symphony. Jacob studied conducting at the prestigious Richard Wagner Bayreuth Festival and is a recipient of The Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award.

A passionate educator, he is Director of Orchestral Activities at Austin Peay State University and previously served as Interim Director of Orchestra at Kent State University and Teaching Artist at The Missouri Symphony Conservatory. A champion of new music, Jacob has led world premieres of more than 70 works by living composers and co-founded DensitySOUND, a new music media and record label housed by Density512.

Jacob participated in masterclasses with notable conductors Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Simone Young, and Pablo Heras-Casado. His principal teachers include conductors Bramwell Tovey, Kevin Noe, Joshua Gersen, and Peter Bay . He holds degrees from the UMKC Conservatory, Boston University, and The University of Texas at Austin.

full:

American conductor Jacob Aaron Schnitzer harnesses the powers of music and storytelling to connect with others. His work as a conductor spans symphonic, opera, and contemporary repertoire; his work in immersive concert design offers audiences unforgettable multisensory experiences.

In the 2025–2026 season, Jacob will serve as Music Director of the Gateway Chamber Orchestra in Clarksville, Tennessee. He enters his ninth season as Artistic Director of Density512—hailed by Gramophone Magazine as a “crack new-music ensemble”—where he leads bold performances at the intersection of storytelling, design, and contemporary music. He also continues as Associate Conductor of The Missouri Symphony. Jacob studied conducting at the prestigious Richard Wagner Bayreuth Festival and is a recipient of The Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award.

A passionate educator, he currently serves as Director of Orchestral Activities at Austin Peay State University and previously was on faculty at Kent State University, Missouri Symphony Conservatory, and joined Booker T. Washington HSPVA on two tours to Carnegie Hall. 

Jacob’s commitment to collaborating with living composers has led to the development of new works in opera, ballet, symphonic, and video game music.  He has led on performances at the SXSW Music Festival, Firefly Music Festival,  Blanton Museum of Art, Fast Forward Austin, Here Be Monsters, The Contemporary Austin, Fusebox Festival, and with National Geographic Explorer Stuart Hyatt at the Cave Without a Name. A champion of new music, Jacob has led world premieres of nearly 70 works. Jacob’s recordings of contemporary music can be heard on Density512’s in-house label DensitySOUND and Toccata Classics.

In his work as a creative director, Jacob integrates theater and multimedia elements into immersive musical experiences. In recent projects, Jacob has served as a stage director, filmmaker, lighting designer, dramaturg, poet, mixing engineer, and clown.

Jacob participated in masterclasses with notable conductors Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Simone Young, and Pablo Heras-Casado. His principal teachers include conductors Bramwell Tovey, Kevin Noe, Joshua Gersen, and Peter Bay as well as composers Zhou Long, Yevgeniy Sharlat, Richard Cornell, and Donald Grantham. He holds degrees from the UMKC Conservatory, Boston University, and The University of Texas at Austin.

When not dreaming of ways to change the world, Jacob hikes, cooks, meditates, reads, and sings to his orange tabby cats.