Meet Our Music Director for the 2025-26 Season

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, which is comprised of leading symphony players, recording musicians, and college faculty from throughout Middle 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.

​

Jacob’s commitment to collaborating with living composers has led world premieres of 70 works in opera, symphonic, ballet, avant-garde, film, and video game music. His recordings of contemporary music can be heard on Density512’s in-house label DensitySOUND and Toccata Classics.

​

Jacob participated in masterclasses with notable conductors Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Simone Young, and Pablo Heras-Casado. His principal teachers include conductors  Kevin Noe, Bramwell Tovey, Joshua Gersen, and Peter Bay. 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.