Local Luminary
by Jill Duff-Hoppes
For conductor and cellist Eric Jacobsen, directing an orchestra is kind of like hosting a party – one with a really large guest list.
The 40-year-old Eric is the music director of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra (OPO), which is celebrating its 30th anniversary season. Comprised of accomplished musicians from around the world, the Philharmonic is Central Florida’s resident professional orchestra.
“When I started conducting, I began falling in love with this feeling I got, which I would compare to throwing a party,” says the maestro, whose musician parents often hosted soirées at their home. “I grew up loving gatherings and throwing parties and cooking for 40 people. An orchestra is a professional form of an artistic gathering that can inspire creative thinking.”
A graduate of The Juilliard School in New York City, Eric’s early music career was all about the cello. Eric was an original member of the groundbreaking string quartet Brooklyn Rider, which he founded in the mid-2000s with three other musicians – including his violinist brother, Colin Jacobsen. Eric has also performed frequently with the Grammy Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble founded by legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
Eric’s conducting career began with The Knights, a New York-based orchestral collective he cofounded with Colin. Incorporated in 2007, The Knights evolved from late-night music reading parties the brothers hosted. Eric continues to serve as conductor and co-artistic director of The Knights.
From Bow to Baton
When Eric decided to shift his career focus to conducting, he went all-in. The more he conducted, the more connected Eric felt to standing on the podium, baton in hand.
In Orlando, Eric is in his eighth season as music director of the Philharmonic. He is also music director of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in Norfolk and the Greater Bridgeport Symphony in Connecticut. As if that weren’t enough, Eric is an in-demand guest conductor for other ensembles, and he continues to play cello for special engagements. The New York Times has – quite appropriately – described Eric as “an interpretive dynamo.”
As a musician and conductor, Eric has taken the stage at prestigious venues throughout the United States and around the world – from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in NYC to Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. He has partnered with many internationally recognized musicians including Israeli-American violinist Itzhak Perlman and superstar pianist Yuja Wang.
Eric’s goal as a music director is to engage audiences with innovative and collaborative programming, and that has certainly been the case in The City Beautiful. The OPO’s diverse and appealing repertoire includes classical, pops, opera, and chamber music.
“Orlando is so incredibly vibrant, and we’re pushing the boundaries of what an orchestra can be in a community,” he says.
Eric is especially proud of OPO’s work during the COVID-plagued 2020-21 season when the Philharmonic was among the few orchestras around the world that was able to keep performing. The Orchestra did that by playing in unexpected outdoor locales such as Exploria Stadium, home to Orlando City Soccer Club, and the parking lot of the Plaza Live theater in Orlando.
A Season To Remember
The Philharmonic has grown tremendously as an arts entity in recent years, Eric says, and the organization is on solid ground financially. This season is a special one because it’s the Orchestra’s first full season in residence at the acoustically superb Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. That means the OPO’s stellar musicians are upping their game even more.
“Our performances have gotten to a level that we can be so proud of them,” Eric says. “It’s been something that everyone has dedicated themselves to and really dug deep for because you can’t do that alone as a conductor.”
Highlights of OPO’s 30th anniversary season include its Resonate Festival in February, featuring clarinetist and artist-in-residence Anthony McGill, and its Mahler’s 5th program on May 6 and 7. The latter will feature Israeli-American pianist Inon Barnatan performing Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
One thing Eric most enjoys about helming multiple ensembles is bringing his musical pals along for the ride. A case in point: Yo-Yo Ma, Eric’s longtime mentor, has played with The Knights many times and performed to much fanfare at a gala concert to mark OPO’s 25th anniversary. And this season, Eric has tapped Yo-Yo to perform with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.
“That’s the kind of continued relationship we like to have in our lives,” says Eric. “We want to continue the dinner party... we always want to have another one.”