Jacob Schnitzer is a conduit through which the powers of music, storytelling, and art connect with others. Jacob’s 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. 2023 Career Assistance Award, Jacob currently serves as Artistic Director of the chamber orchestra and new music collective Density512 in Austin, Texas, Interim Director of Orchestra at Kent State University, and Assistant Conductor of The Missouri Symphony. He previously served as Assistant Conductor to the late Bramwell Tovey and the Boston University Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, Assistant Conductor of the UMKC Conservatory Orchestra and Opera, Artistic Advisor of Silent Films Out Loud, and Music Director of the Engineering Chamber Orchestra.    

Jacob has collaborated on performances at the SXSW Music Festival, Blanton Museum of Art, Liminal Sound Series, Boston University Messiaen Project, Fast Forward Austin, Here Be Monsters, for Ragnar Kjartanson’s S.S. Hangover at The Contemporary Austin and Fusebox Festival, and with National Geographic Explorer Stuart Hyatt at the Cave Without a Name. A passionate educator, he has served on the teaching faculty of the Missouri Symphony Conservatory, University of Texas String Project, and joined Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts as a visiting conductor and composer on two tours to Carnegie Hall. A champion of new music, Jacob has led world premieres of more than 45 works by living composers and co-founded DensitySOUND, a new music media and record label housed by Density512.

Jacob recently participated in masterclasses with Yannick Nézet-Séguin at Domaine Forget de Charlevoix. His principal mentors include conductors Kevin Noe, Bramwell Tovey, 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.

Beyond his musical pursuits, Jacob is involved in theater and media as a director, filmmaker, lighting designer, dramaturg, mixing engineer, and clown. When not dreaming of ways to change the world, Jacob hikes, cooks, meditates, reads, and sings to his orange tabby cats.