Eric Jacobsen lives in Brooklyn, NY and performs as a cellist and conductor. He has a desire and need to work in a wide spectrum of styles and is constantly looking towards the future with his colleagues and fellow musicians for inspiration and collaboration.
Since 2005, Mr. Jacobsen has been a member of the groundbreaking string quartet, Brooklyn Rider. The group strives to explore music that goes beyond the conventional classical music canon. The quartet’s first album, ‘Silent City’ was released in September 2008 on the Harmonia Mundi label and features a musical collaboration between the quartet and Kayhan Kalhor, the renowned Persian kemancheh player.
Mr. Jacobsen is a member of Yo-Yo Ma’s acclaimed Silk Road Ensemble. With the ensemble, he has traveled on the ancient trading route to Baku, Azerbaijan, Switzerland, China and Malaysia where he performed for the Aga Khan. Last year he participated in residencies in Japan’s National Museums in Nara and Fukuoka, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art in New York.
Events this season include a tour to India with the Silk Road Ensemble, conducting two Sony Classical recordings with The Knights, one of which with the great German cellist Jan Vogler, collaborations with the master Irish fiddler Martin Hayes, a tour to the Canary Islands with Osvaldo Golijov and The Knights and Mr. Jacobsen’s first tour as a conductor to Germany and Ireland.
Mr. Jacobsen can be heard on recordings with distinguished artists, such as Yo-Yo Ma, Bono, and Mark O’Connor and Christina Courtin [coming soon on Nonesuch Records]. The Knights’ Sony recording of Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland, conducted by Mr. Jacobsen will be out on the Sony label later this year.
Mr. Jacobsen has studied conducting with Eduardo Browne at the Juilliard School and Ken Keisler at Waterville Valley Music Center. He received his Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School under the guidance of the late Harvey Shapiro, someone who Mr. Jacobsen considers to be one of the great influences of his life.
Mr. Jacobsen plays a Bernardus Calcanius cello crafted in 1744.