Daniel Jacobs is an educator, violist, and conductor. Most recently, he was a conductor and teaching artist for Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Youth Orchestra Los Angeles. At YOLA, he prepared ensembles for such artists as Gustavo Dudamel, Thomas Wilkins, Cynthia Erivo, and Silvana Estrada. He has conducted youth ensembles at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hollywood Bowl, and other venues across the country. Jacobs has been a guest speaker at El Sistema World Congress and YOLA National Symposium. He was a Firebird Fellow at the Academy for Impact through Music and an ArtistYear AmeriCorps alumnus. He currently serves on the YOLA National Festival faculty.

As a violist, Jacobs has performed throughout North America and Europe; and has collaborated in chamber performances with violinist Jorja Fleezanis and members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and LA Phil. An advocate for new music, Jacobs performed at the LA Phil’s "Noon to Midnight" and California festivals, and has worked with composers such as Laura Schwendinger, Georg Friedrich Haas, and Donald Crockett. Jacobs can be heard on Naxos recordings featuring orchestral works by Kevin Puts and Aaron Jay Kernis, led by Marin Alsop and Leonard Slatkin. Additionally, he has recorded for movie and television scores.

Jacobs holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and a Master of Music and GPD from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University in viola performance. His primary teachers were Victoria Chiang and Sally Chisholm. He has studied chamber music with members of the Aspen String Trio, Pro Arte Quartet, and Alarm Will Sound. He is currently a music education PhD student and graduate teaching associate at The Ohio State University. Additionally, Daniel Jacobs is the lead teaching artist for ProMusica Chamber Orchestra’s Play Us Forward program.