jacob

Jacob Braun has enjoyed performing on many of the world’s finest stages on

four continents. Highlights include the Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires), Wigmore

Hall, Jordan Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, Severance Hall and

Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. A native of Lincoln, Massachusetts, he has

also performed and recorded in a much smaller Lincoln Center. After his 2007

performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, The Worcester Quarterly wrote,

“Braun drew a rich, mellifluent tone out of his cello that immediately

commanded audience attention.”

A chamber music enthusiast, Jacob joined the Formosa Quartet in January

2007. Appearing at music festivals, he has collaborated with Atar Arad, Paul

Katz, David Halen, Melvin Chen, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Gilles Apap and members

of the Brentano, Miami and Tokyo String Quartets. With his wife, cellist Amelie

Fradette, he has presented duo cello repertoire at the Innsbrook Institute, Bach

Annalia at the Cincinnati Conservatory and on Radio Canada. Embracing the

challenges of music by living composers, Jacob has played works by Mason

Bates, Jon Harbison, Stacy Garrop, George Crumb and Curtis Hughes. From

1998 to 2006, Jacob was a member of the Biava Quartet, winners of the 2003

Naumburg Chamber Music Award.

Teaching and performing at summer festivals, Jacob has appeared at the

Hotchkiss Summer Portals, the Innsbrook Institute, the Heifetz Institute and the

Chautauqua Music Festival and given masterclasses at SUNY Plattsburgh and

Roosevelt University. His experience with Alexander technique and Dalcroze

has helped him guide younger students towards physical comfort in cello

technique.

Holding degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, the New England

Conservatory and Yale University, Jacob studied with Richard Aaron, Paul

Katz, Mark Churchill, Andres Diaz, Aldo Parisot, and Clive Greensmith. Jacob is

an avid Boston sports fan. He almost never refuses a challenge in table tennis

or chess and has been spotted playing the chess master in Harvard Square.

Jacob plays on a “Royal” Forster cello made circa 1795.