David Jacobs, Assistant Professor
 (director of Orchestral Studies and Conducting and the Director of the UO Symphony Orchestra) B.M., Duquesne University; M.A. University of Central Florida; D.M.A. Eastman School of Music Discography |
(541) 346-5685 | djacobs@uoregon.edu
Dr. Jacobs began his musical career as a professional trumpet player after receiving his Bachelor of Music degree in trumpet performance from Duquesne University in 2000 studying with George Vosburgh. For the next seven seasons, he played regularly with the Sarasota Orchestra performing in masterworks, pops, and chamber music series, as well as the renowned Sarasota Music Festival Orchestra. He also was a member of the Sarasota Opera Orchestra for three years and appeared several times with the Southwest Florida Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, and New World Symphony.
In 2007, he began training as a conductor at the world-renown Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. While attending Eastman, he was the recipient of several conducting prizes including the prestigious Frederick Fennell Fellowship for Advanced Conducting Study and the 2009 Walter Hagen prize for excellence in conducting. Throughout his residency, he served as the Assistant Conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble and also juggled concerts between the Eastman Wind Orchestra, Eastman School Symphony Orchestra, Graduate Conducting Orchestra, New Eastman Orchestra, and Ossia, the school’s student run contemporary sinfonietta.
Currently, Dr. Jacobs is the Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Oregon where he conducts the University Symphony Orchestra and teaches courses in conducting. Prior to that appointment, he was the Music Director of the PBA Symphony at Palm Beach Atlantic University where he brought that orchestra to a heightened level of notoriety throughout the South Florida classical community.
In addition to his posts with academic orchestras, Dr. Jacobs has also conducted several professional orchestras, here and abroad. In 2011, he earned one of seven coveted conducting fellowships at the Cabrillo New Music Festival where he worked closely with Marin Alsop conducting performances during the festival’s opening week. In 2010, he made his debut performance with the Palm Beach Symphony, sharing the stage with renowned conductor and concert pianist, Philippe Entremont, and conducted Tchaikovsky’s Symphony #5 with the St. Petersburg (Russia) State Symphony. In 2009, he was featured on local television conducting Beethoven in an open rehearsal with the Rochester Philharmonic during their annual Summer Conducting Institute. Dr. Jacobs has studied conducting with Mark Scatterday, Neil Varon, JoAnn Falletta, Gustav Meier, and Marin Alsop.
