Jacob Kelberman

About Jacob

Originally from Philadelphia, PA, Jake Kelberman is a musician, composer, educator, and collaborator with a wide range of artistic pursuits. He has performed throughout North America, South America, and Europe as a guitarist supporting a variety of artists. Kelberman is an adjunct professor of jazz guitar and small ensemble director at Temple University in Philadelphia; he has worked as a visiting teaching artist with universities and organizations globally.

As a composer, Kelberman collaborates with artists from a variety of different mediums to develop original music for interdisciplinary projects. He has been commissioned by the Philadelphia Jazz Project to write music inspired by the work of environmental photographer Edward Burtynsky. Kelberman has worked with choreographer Peter Chu, composing new music for works which have been performed by The Juilliard School, The Charlotte Ballet, Gibney Dance Company, and Giordano Dance Chicago. He has scored various short films and is included in the 2020 ASCAP/Columbia University Film Scoring Workshop Composer’s Spotlight, scoring the trailer for the 2020 Columbia University Film Festival.

As an advocate for the arts, he has worked with organizations including Artcinia, Project Music Heals Us, Concerts in Motion, Philadelphia Community Arts Network, West Park Cultural Center, and with various El-Sistema inspired programs around the world. He was a Gluck Community Service Fellow at the Juilliard School and is a graduate of the Global Leaders Program 2020 Cohort, where he earned an Executive Graduate Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship, Cultural Agency, Teaching Artistry, Civic Leadership, and Organizational Management. Kelberman holds an undergraduate degree in Jazz Performance and Political Science from Temple University, and a masters’ degree in Jazz Studies from the Juilliard School.

I hope to help students to identify their own artistic goals and develop a specific plans to achieve them in a way that serves as a model for their own long term growth.