Jacob Hansen-Joseph

Jacob Joseph has a varied career as a freelance musician in his native Bay Area. Aside from appearing with many of the regional symphony orchestras and with touring Broadway productions, he is a founding member of the Oakland based Town Quartet, the unofficial resident string quartet of Oakland CA. He has been a member of the Schleswig-Holstein, Glimmerglass, and Spoletto festival orchestras as well as the orchestra of the New York City Ballet and is currently principal violist of the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera and assistant principal violist of the Berkeley Symphony. Joseph has performed in chamber music recitals with members of the Juilliard String Quartet, The Claremont Trio, and with pianist Alon Goldstein and violist Toby Appel, as well as sharing the stage with the likes of Johnny Mathis, The Eagles, The Moody Blues, and Nick Cave among others.

He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Juilliard in the studio of Toby Appel. Other teachers include Paul Yarbrough, Karen Ritscher, and Jurgen Weber. When he’s not at home practicing he can be found smoking meat at the BBQ, making pickles, or at the Oakland Coliseum for an A’s game.

Photo by Susan and Neil Silverman Photography