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Jacob Schafer
Education:
Doctor of Musical Arts – Rice University
Master of Music – Rice University
Bachelor of Arts – Yale University
Jacob Schafer joined the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra as Assistant Principal Second Violin in December 2025. In addition to his work with the LPO, he is a core member of the unconducted string ensemble Kinetic and the contemporary music ensemble Loop38. He has performed with the Houston Symphony, Nashville Symphony, and Mercury Chamber Orchestra and in venues as diverse as the Bergen Public Library (Norway), Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy” in Leipzig, Germany, Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan, Italy, and New York’s Carnegie Hall.
An avid chamber musician, Jacob is a founding member of Trio Zenia and has performed with Renée Fleming, Nicholas Phan, Steven Banks, and Leon Fleisher, as well as appearing as a guest violinist with Apollo Chamber Players, Orfeo Piano Trio, and Olmos Ensemble. Committed to the music of our time, he has premiered over 100 new works, including performances with Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Musiqa, and Tanglewood’s New Fromm Players and collaborations with composers Julian Anderson, Du Yun, and Pierre Jalbert.
Jacob is featured on multiple commercial recordings, including Houston Grand Opera’s Grammy-nominated production of Jake Heggie’s Intelligence and the world premiere recording of Paul Novak’s a string quartet is like a flight of birds on Kinetic Ensemble’s Billboard-topping debut album Kinetic. A dedicated educator, he has served on faculty at Lone Star College–University Park and the American Festival for the Arts in Houston, Texas, and taught music theory and coached chamber music at Rice University.
Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, Jacob holds a Doctor of Musical Arts and a Master of Music from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and a Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude from Yale University, where he majored in Ethics, Politics, and Economics and in Music. His primary teachers include Paul Kantor, Kyung Yu, and Christian Teal.
