Music performs many functions – personal expression, intellectual stimulation, community building, and entertainment to name a few. Jacob Chesney (b.1996) aims to combine these to create music that explores mental health issues and spirituality. Jacob is a composer and educator based in Baltimore. His work has been performed by the Arizona State University Wind Symphony and loadbang, among others.
As an educator, Jacob has taught as an adjunct professor of music theory at Lipscomb University and Middle Tennessee State University and as a teaching assistant for theory and aural skills at Arizona State University. As a private instructor, he teaches composition, piano, fretted string instruments, and brass instruments to beginner and advanced students from age 5 through college. He believes education is one of the most potent avenues through which we can bring about change in music and in the community.
He is currently pursuing a DMA in music composition at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. He also holds degrees from Arizona State University (MM) and Harding University (BA). His composition teachers include Sky Macklay, Alex Temple, Jody Rockmaker, Chris Norby, and Jay Walls.