HIGHLIGHTS
Density512, Austin, Texas, Artistic Director,
The Missouri Symphony, Associate Conductor
,Austin Peay State University, Director of Orchestral Activites
The Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award
Bayreuth Festival, Conducting Masterclass 2024
NEWS
March 2025 | KMFA Classical 89.5 and Density512 present Power Up: The Art of Video Game Music. In conjunction with the SXSW Festival, this event combines performances, panel discussions, and hands-on gaming showcases featuring renowned composers and game developers.
March 2025 | Density512’s new album Arnold Rosner: Music for Symphonic Wind Band is released by London record label Toccata Classics. Gramophone magazine praised Density512 as a “crack new-music ensemble… well worth investigating”.
August 2024 | Jacob is promoted to Associate Conductor of The Missouri Symphony and appointed to the conducting faculty of Austin Peay State University.
July 2024 | Jacob is selected by the Richard Wagner Bayreuth Festival to be in residence for as one of four international participants in its conducting masterclass.
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.
Recipient of The Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award, Jacob was recently named Associate Conductor of The Missouri Symphony. He is a co-founder and Artistic Director of Density512, a chamber orchestra hailed as a “crack new-music ensemble” (Gramophone Magazine) at the nexus of storytelling, design, and contemporary music. In 2024 he was selected to be in residence at the prestigious Richard Wagner Bayreuth Festival for its conducting masterclass.
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.
“For Schnitzer, conducting... is akin to directing a theatrical performance. ”
“Schnitzer is animated and athletic and gets a lot out of his musicians. Their performance of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony brought a standing ovation.”
“...a groundbreaking collaboration... masterfully performed by Density512’s chamber orchestra under the baton of Jacob Schnitzer.”
Photos by Jack Kloecker
