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Jake Woollen Bio Page

ISYO Season Send-Off Concert

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ISYO SM Event 033024
Join us for the ISYO's season finale featuring all ISYO Orchestras & Chamber Groups.
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Join the ISYO for a final musical sendoff, as we celebrate our graduating seniors and send everyone into the summer with a rousing musical coda to a successful season. We hope to see you there!

Jacobsen Woollen, ISYO Conductor & ISO Associate Conductor 
Maria Emmons & Mu-Chi Hsieh, Preparatory Conductors
All ISYO Orchestras & Chamber Groups

Sunday, May 18, 2025 @ 4:00 PM
Sacred Heart-Griffin High School, Springfield, IL

Tickets:
General Admission: $15
Students (24 & Under): $5

Support Provided By:
Illinois Arts Council, An Agency of the State of Illinois +National Endowment for the Arts +The Music ShoppeCommunity Foundation for the Land of Lincoln *PNC Bank, The Gewirtz Fund, Pete & Melinda LaBarre, Dr. Stephen & Lisa Stone, Susan Cook House Educational Trust
Featured
Jacobsen Woollen
ISO Associate Conductor and ISYO Conductor

Jacobsen Woollen is a conductor, cellist, and tenor residing in Springfield, Illinois, where he serves as Associate Conductor of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Conductor of the Illinois Symphony Youth Orchestra, Director of the Springfield Choral Society, and Director of the UIS Orchestra.

An Indiana native, Jacobsen returns to the Midwest after spending six years in Vienna, Austria, where he completed a Post-Graduate Diploma in orchestral conducting under the tutelage of Prof. Mark Stringer at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, conducted professional ensembles including the Polska Filharmonia Baltycka and Ensemble Ultreia, served as assistant conductor of the Vienna Opera Festival, and led the Schlosschor Hadersfeld. During his Vienna years, Jacobsen was frequently called back to the Midwest to work at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, where he served as assistant conductor and led several workshops for new works, including Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones

Jacobsen also maintains an active career as a tenor: he recently produced and performed a musical-theatrical concert evening, Lovelace Weave, which explores the father-daughter pair of Lord Byron and Ada Lovelace. As a member of the Grammy-winning Arnold Schoenberg Chor, Jacobsen has participated in opera productions at Theater an der Wien, as well as concerts in Europe’s most renowned venues, including Vienna’s Musikverein and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. 

Prior to his European sojourn, Jacobsen completed a Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Michigan under the guidance of Kenneth Kiesler. During this time, he was active in the Ann Arbor musical community as well, serving as founder and director of Paradigm Shift Chamber Orchestra, music director of the Ann Arbor Camerata, and assistant conductor of the Michigan Life Sciences Orchestra. 

As a cellist, Jacobsen was a student of Susan Moses in the Indiana University String Academy and later completed a Bachelor’s Degree with Richard Aaron at the University of Michigan. He has appeared as a soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, Musical Arts Youth Orchestra, and Voces Novae Chamber Choir. As a chamber musician, he has had the pleasure of collaborating with Joshua Bell, Jaime Laredo, Soovin Kim, and many others. From 2013-16, Jacobsen was cellist and artistic curator with the new-music sextet Latitude 49, and he continues to serve on their Board of Directors.