BIOGRAPHY

Heralded by The Diapason magazine as a “Top 20 under 30,” Jacob Gruss is a rising star in the world of organ performance and church music. Jacob is a recent graduate of The Juilliard School. Alongside his degree, Jacob served as Organ Scholar at the iconic Cathedral of St. John the Divine, regularly performing with world-class orchestras and choirs. During his time in New York, Jacob boasted an impressive performance schedule in many of the city’s renowned venues, including Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall and David Geffen Hall. Jacob is currently a joint student at the Yale School of Music and Yale Institute of Sacred Music, studying in the organ studio of James O’Donnell.

Jacob won the prestigious First Prize and Audience Choice in the 27th Annual Albert Schweitzer Young Professionals Competition. He also placed first in the Westmorland Symphony Orchestra's Young Artist Competition, first in the Cassel Competition (Harrisburg, PA), and was a winner in the 2023 AGO Quimby Northeast Regional Organ Competition.

An avid collaborator, Jacob regularly involves chamber music in his programming and has performed alongside The Juilliard Orchestra. Beyond performance, Jacob is also an emerging composer. His recently commissioned Mass of the Immaculate Conception premiered in Irwin, PA, in August 2024. Jacob has been featured in The Diapason magazine, The American Organist magazine, and was interviewed in the Tribune-Review and on WQED-FM Pittsburgh’s Voice of the Arts.

Jacob was a proud recipient of the American Guild of Organists' Pogorzelski-Yankee Memorial Scholarship and was honored as the inaugural recipient of the Robert and Nancy Powell Scholarship of Greenville, SC.

In addition to organ, Jacob studies Conducting, Composition, Improvisation, and Harpsichord. In his free time, Jacob enjoys traveling, opera, biking, art, and golf.