EPK 

Bio (Short)                                                                                Bio (Long)

fBorn in Brooklyn New York in 1979, Jacob Szekely grew up in a musical family where his talent was recognized early on. He was accepted to study classical cello performance at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy for high school before attending The Cleveland Institute of Music for his Bachelor’s Degree and The University of Southern California for graduate studies.

Strings Magazine has hailed Szekely as “One of the leaders in the Creative String Community,” and Berklee cello professor and multiple Grammy winner Eugene Friesen has declared Jacob’s playing to be “The first time a cellist has made the case as a leader in modern jazz!” In 2013 Jacob founded the Jacob Szekely Trio and released their debut EP, which was hailed by critics from the Strad, Strings Magazine, International musicians, The LA Weekly (featured artist and twice “Pick Of The Week”), and artists from Yo-Yo Ma, to Rush Bassist Geddy Lee as a “Quantum Leap Forward” in pushing the boundaries of the instrument.  In 2015 Jacob’s trio released their debut album which had airplay on KCRW (Los Angeles), PRI, and New Sounds on WNYC and made several year end top ten lists for JazzEd, International Review of Music, and several others.  In Late 2015 The Trio also completed a successful national tour whose highlights included headlining the New Directions In Cello Festival and sold-out performances at Rockwood Music Hall in Manhattan, the Soundroom in Oakland CA, and Los Angeles’s legendary Blue Whale where they filmed their first live DVD.

Mr. Szekely is also in great demand as a sideman and session player in Los Angeles having appeared in hundreds of commercials, television shows and movie scores.  Jacob has been a featured performer or solo cellist with such popular artists as Marry J Blidge, Jay Z, Ellie Goulding, Avril Lavigne and Rush (ClockWork Angels Tour), Nichole Nordeman, Brett Young, and Luis Miguel to name a few.  Jacob has been a featured soloist on such Television shows as Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead, The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Electric Cello), and Marvel’s Agents Of Shield, and on video games like World Of Warcraft to Electric Jazz Solo work for the upcomming Joker 2. 

In addition to his busy schedule as a performer, Mr. Szekely is also active as a composer and arranger and has collaborated with a wide range of artists and ensembles from string quartets and world music groups to commissions for chamber orchestra and children’s choir, and modern dance companies. In late 2016 Mr. Szekely completed a series of etudes focused on exploring popular styles and improvisation including “The Rake,” a funk pizzicato etude that will be published as part of a compendium of progressive cello etudes by YoYo Ma, Mike Block, Mark Summer, and Rushaad Eggleston for Berklee Press in (Spring 2017) and “5 Progressive Studies,” a series of pieces designed to introduce Jacob’s revolutionary fingerboard concepts in etude form.  In 2022 Jacob was awarded a grant from South Arts, The Copeland Foundation and Arizona State University to compose 2 movement sof The JAzz Roads Suite-A collaboration with Jacob’s World Chamber Jazz group Quarteto Nuevo

In 2007, Jacob expanded his role as a musical ambassador through the co-founding and artistic directorship of String Project Los Angeles, a music school and resource for the alternative string playing community throughout the world located in Venice California named by Strings Magazine as “One of the top 10 reasons to study music in Los Angeles” and by Jazz violinist and Downbeat poll winner Christian Howes as “A model for all string teachers in America.”  In addition to String Project Los Angeles, Jacob has also conducted residencies and master classes across the united states at UCLA, Cal Arts, The Berklee School of Music, Oklahoma State University, Georgia State University, The University of Southern California, Ithaca College and The American String Teachers Association’s national conference to name a few and is founder and Artistic Director of the Annual Los Angeles Creative String Festival (now in it’s fifth year).  Jacob has also served on the summer faculty of numerous festivals including The New Directions In Cello Festival and Christian Howes’ Creative Strings Workshop with whom he co-authored an article in the July 2012 issue of The Strad advising string teachers on how to approach improvisation.  

In 2013, Jacob launched The Improvisor’s Guide to the cello… The first ever comprehensive video learning series designed to address the unique challenges classically trained cellists face when approaching creative string playing.  In August 2015, Jacob introduced The Improvisor’s Guide To The Cello Academy: the first ever interactive online community for creative cellists which now boasts over 1000 active members.  

Long revered by artists like Kevin Olusola, and Christian Howes as one of the world’s authorities in the burgeoning field of bowed string amplification, Jacob expanded his commitment to pushing creative string playing forward again in 2015 with the release of the ThePickupTest.com.   The new global resource for amplified string players features tutorials, tabletop reviews, and the first-ever comprehensive sound library of every pickup on the market for Violin, Viola, and Cello where musicians can compare pickups, microphones, and preamps on a custom-made media player invented and designed by Mr. Szekely.  

Mr. Szekely is also the founder and artistic director of The Los Angeles Creative String Festival (now in it’s 10th year), and also the String^TEK Seminar (a biannual Fellowship program for amplified string players pushing the boundaries of amplified string playing.)

Jacob is sponsored by Grace Design, Danish Professional Audio and is a Yamaha Clinician. He performs on several 4 and 5 string acoustic cellos including a cello made by Eric Benning and a bow by John Dodd.   

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Testimonials                                                         Reviews

“Cellist Jacob Szekely has built a career on defying expectations of what his chosen instrument is capable of. “
– Andy Hermann, LA Weekly

” no one is doing more to open up possibilities for cello players than Jacob Szekely.”
– Berkleyside

“In his first outing as a leader, Szekely has created a unique musical tapestry that incorporates the richness of jazz improvisation, the structure of classical music and the edginess of rock into its own alchemy which Szekely calls rock chamber jazz.”
– Do The Bay (San Francisco)

“A virtuoso who places as much emphasis on the forms he’s created, as his transformative cello solos.”

– Kirk Silsbee, LA Weekly

“Fun and rocking”
– George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly

“JACOB SZEKELY: That cat that’s reinventing the language of cello”

– Midwest Record Review

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