Jacob Shack

Viola

Violist Jacob Shack is based in Washington, DC, where he is a member of the National Symphony Orchestra's viola section. Appointed to this position in 2026, Jacob was previously Associate Principal Viola of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He maintains a highly varied career of orchestral, contemporary, and chamber music performance.

As an orchestral musician, Jacob has appeared with symphony orchestras across the United States, including those of Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, New World Symphony, and New York Philharmonic. His festival appearances include Arizona MusicFest, Aspen Music Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, Lake George Music Festival, Lakes Area Music Festival, New York String Orchestra Seminar, Sarasota Music Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, and Tanglewood Music Center, where he was a recipient of the Maurice Schwarz Prize. As a passionate proponent of contemporary music, Jacob was a member of the New Fromm Players at Tanglewood, which also served as the ensemble-in-residence at Bright Sheng’s Intimacy of Creativity Festival in Hong Kong.

When not performing, Jacob is a devoted educator. In addition to maintaining a private studio in Baltimore, Jacob has been an instructor of viola at Baltimore School for the Arts since 2018. He is also an artist-faculty member of the Charles Ives Music Festival, an intensive chamber music program for youth and adults in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

A native of Andover, Massachusetts, Jacob earned his bachelor’s degree in Comparative Religion from Harvard University in 2014. While an undergraduate, Jacob studied with Martha Strongin Katz of the New England Conservatory. He went on to pursue a master’s degree at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Heidi Castleman and Misha Amory.