Flaunting a “tone that is just…delicious” (W.C. Nyaho), violist Jacob Clewell stands in the vanguard of musicians of his generation. He leads a blended career of classical and non-classical settings, and has appeared in concerts with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Gryphon Trio with Latin Jazz legend Jovino Santos Neto, Icelandic “cosmic rock” band Sigur Rós, and with pianist Sasha Bult-Ito in The Ezra Duo. In the world of TV and film he has been a consultant for “American Horror Story” on FX, and is involved in the upcoming season of “The Vampire Lestat”, airing in 2026. Jacob earned his Doctor of Musical Arts as the Yo-Yo Ma Fellow at the University of Toronto, where he published a dissertation on alternative pedagogical avenues for synthesis of virtuosic viola technique. His teachers have included Mara Gearman, Nicholas Cords, Lawrence Dutton, Steven Dann, and Masumi Per Rostad.