RECENT NEWS

November 18, 2018: Concert at Prague Castle
Very grateful to Col Dr. Václav Blahunek and the Band of the Castle Guards & Police of the Czech Republic for their outstanding performance of my Památník: "Memorial" for Wind Ensemble in the gorgeous Spanish Hall of Prague Castle.
Read the review in KlasikaPlus.cz (in Czech)!
July 17-29, 2018: Fellowship in Switzerland
Honored to have spent two weeks in the Swiss Alps as a Composition Fellow at the Talis Festival & Academy in Saas-Fee, featuring the premiere my new quintet, Reveal.
Picture
Thank you to Kara Reese Photography for many of the outstanding pictures seen throughout this website.  
​Click here to learn more.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Památník ("Memorial"), Vanderbilt Wind Symphony,
Blair School of Music, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN - March 22, 2019
Extremely honored to have been chosen as the winner of the Vanderbilt Wind Symphony's "Call for Scores" Student Composition Competition. Concert is free and open to the public and begins at 8 p.m. Hope to see you there! For more info, click here.
Památník ("Memorial") for String Orchestra - World Premiere, Wisconsin Philharmonic, Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, Brookfield, Wisconsin - April 7, 2019
Excited to announce a performance in my home state of Wisconsin! Come on out and hear the world premiere of the string orchestra version of my piece that was performed in Prague last November. Concert begins at 3 p.m. Tickets and information available here. 
Third Year of Residency in Door County, Wisconsin - 2019
After an exciting second season as the composer-in-residence of the Midsummer's Music Festival in 2018, featuring four performances of my Partita melodica, I'm already looking forward to next season. See you in the summer!

EDUCATION

CZECH CONNECTION

Jacob developed a strong connection to his paternal heritage in the Czech Republic after doing extensive genealogical research on his family's roots. In June 2013, he traveled to Southern Bohemia to visit the Beránek family ancestral home (above). 

Jacob has had an undeniable love for Czech music since an early age. In fact, when he was just nine years old, he begged his mom to take a trip to Spillville, Iowa, so he could experience where his favorite composer, Antonín Dvořák, spent the summer of 1893.

He traveled to the Czech Republic again in June 2015 and March 2017 to study piano and composition in Prague. Read more about Jacob's 2015 adventure in the Blog section.