Praised for his “excellent technical skills and singing tone” (American Record Guide) and for his “exuberant and decisive interpretations” (Dagens Nyheter), Jacob Kellermann has established himself as one of Scandinavia's most visible and versatile guitarists, with a varied repertoire of concertos, solo works and chamber music. Born in Stockholm, he began his guitar studies at the age of eight.
Regularly performing in major Swedish venues, he has appeared internationally in venues including Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Prinzregententheater and Gasteig Munich, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Seoul Art Center and Brucknerhaus Linz. He has partaken in festivals such as Enescu Festival (Romania), Festival Dag in de Branding (the Netherlands) and the El Jem Festival (Tunisia). As a soloist, he has worked with orchestras such as London Philharmonic Orchestra (UK), the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gävle Symphony Orchestra (Sweden), Tallin Chamber Orchestra (Estonia), Querétaro Philharmonic Orchestra (Mexiko) and Incheon Philharmonic Orchestra (South Korea). Upcoming soloist engagements for 2022-23 include BBC Philharmonic, Spanish National Orchestra, Bielefelder Philharmoniker and Orquesta de Valencia.
In 2020 Jacob performed at the official award ceremony of the Nobel Prize, an honor bestowed to a selected few Swedish musicians.
Jacob Kellermann has recorded three Albums on the label BIS records: S. Gubaidulina “Repentance” – 2014, Schubert Sonatas – 2018 and “Rodrigo, Harden & Coll – Guitar works 2020”. His third album, focusing on Spanish guitar concertos, was released in December 2020 and was awarded a Swedish Grammy for best classical album of the year as well as being chosen as #1 Record of the year by Swedens largest daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter. The Times (UK) called it a “distinctive release”, and the NRC Handelsblad (the Netherlands) described “transparent, tight orchestral sound and excellent interpretation of the guitar part”. It was also listed as Diapason d’or of June 2021.
Equally in demand as a chamber musician, he regularly performs with string players and singers all over Europe and have made critically acclaimed appearances and tours in Germany, France, The Netherlands, Czech Republic, China, Japan and South Korea.
With an extensive repertoire that often features his own transcriptions, he constantly searches for new expressive possibilities for the guitar. Close collaborations with numerous composers including Sofia Gubaidulina, Toshio Hosokawa, Jose M. Sanchez-Verdu, Francisco Coll, Jesper Nordin, Lisa Streich and Benjamin Staern has resulted in numerous works and concertos written directly for him. He has premiered new guitar concertos with major Scandinavian new music ensembles BIT20 Bergen and Norrbotten NEO.
He is also the co-founder of The Netherlands based group New European Ensemble, performing the 20th and 21th century repertoire in conducted and unconducted chamber settings - from Schönberg, Boulez and Henze to world premieres by composer of the next generation.
Jacob Kellermann has studied in Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands and Germany. He received his "Meisterklasse Diplom" under prof. Franz Halasz at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich in 2011. He plays on an instrument by the German luthier Matthias Dammann.
