Jacob Leshnower
Grace Hopper
2027
Jacob Leshnower is a junior percussionist in Grace Hopper College from Long Island, New York, double majoring in Music and Statistics & Data Science. He began playing piano at the age of two and percussion in the fourth grade.
In December 2024, Jacob performed as a percussionist in the North American premiere of Mariano A. Fernandez and Diego Golombek’s opera Darwin en Patagonia, the first ever formal collaboration between Yale Opera and Yale College Arts. Earlier that year, in April 2024, Jacob played drum set in Emma and Aaron Ventresca’s show The Postmodern Prometheus.
At Yale, Jacob also enjoys playing percussion with the Yale Symphony Orchestra (YSO) and Yale Concert Band (YCB), and piano with the Yale Undergraduate Piano Collective (YUPC). He has guest performed with the Yale Philharmonia, Berkeley College Orchestra (BCO), and Davenport Pops Orchestra (DPops). Jacob has also been hired to perform on percussion with the Yale Camerata, Yale Glee Club, and Yale Opera. Finally, Jacob enjoys composing music for Yale’s game development studio Amoriem Labs.
Jacob has spent his summers playing percussion at the Juilliard Summer Percussion Seminar (JSPS) and Masterclass Series (JSPMS), the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) Percussion Workshop, the NYU Sandbox Percussion Seminar, the Sō Percussion Summer Institute (SōSI) at Princeton University, and, most recently, the Sewanee Summer Music Festival (SSMF) and the Northwestern Summer Percussion Symposium.
In 2024, Jacob earned a spot as a percussionist with the CBDNA Eastern Division Intercollegiate Band. Jacob has also performed on percussion with the NAfME All-National Symphony Orchestra and NAfME All-Eastern Symphonic Band, and on piano with the New York All-State Symphonic Band. He was also a finalist in NPR’s radio show From The Top and appeared in NPR’s “Daily Joy” feature. Outside of music, Jacob enjoys participating in Rubik’s Cube competitions and juggling.
Production
| Show Name | Role | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| The Postmodern Prometheus | Musician | Apr 5, 2024 |
Performance
| Show Name | Role | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Darwin en Patagonia | Percussion | Dec 5 – 6, 2024 |