Jacob Niemann, three-time recipient of the Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award, recently graduated as the Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow at the Curtis Institute of Music, under the mentorship of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He studied for three summers at the Aspen Music Festival & School, working with Robert Spano, becoming the festival’s Assistant Conductor in 2023.

In September 2025, Niemann was selected by Riccardo Muti to attend his Italian Opera Academy in Tokyo, performing Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra with the Tokyo-HARUSAI Festival Orchestra & Tokyo Opera Singers Chorus. This concert season, he holds a residency with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, working with Enrique Mazzola on a production of Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci. In December, Niemann will compete in the 18th Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, leading the London Symphony Orchestra.

As a cover conductor, Niemann has worked with the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Dallas, Fort Worth, Jacksonville, Minnesota (Minneapolis), and National (Washington). In masterclasses, he has conducted the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich under David Zinman, the New World Symphony (Miami) with Michael Tilson Thomas, and the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra (Santa Cruz) for Cristian Măcelaru.

October, 2025