bio

Short Bio

Jake Landau, b. 1995, is an American composer with a uniquely genre-spanning career focused in new classical music and musical theater. His works have been performed by the New York Philharmonic, Houston Grand Opera, and Tony Award-winning Broadway stars in venues as diverse as Carnegie Hall, Birdland Jazz Club, and the Royal Palace of Amsterdam.

After his undergraduate studies at The Juilliard School under composer John Corigliano, Landau received his master's degree from Oxford University with First Class Honours. Along the way, and as a Composition Fellow at summer institutions including the prestigious Aspen Music Festival, Landau created his core body of work in contemporary classical chamber and vocal music. At the same time, he worked in premier pop music studios, experimental queer nightclubs, and as a pianist for both opera and Broadway productions. This unusual background led him to a sound that at turns explores and ignores genre, in which hit-factory hooks interact with the concept-driven architectures of classical music.

In addition to his composing, Landau is an accomplished lyricist, orchestrator, music director, and Early Music keyboardist, having arranged music for a wide range of performers from Baroque cellists and indie rockers to NBC. In 2025, he was commissioned to write two singles for the album In This Short Life (Lexicon Classics), which would go on to earn a GRAMMY nomination. 2026 saw Landau's Off-Broadway debut with an adaptation of The Threepenny Opera.

Landau is the youngest-ever winner of the Walter Hinrichsen Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; one of NYFOS’S (New York Festival of Song) “9 under 34” composers; founding director of The New Voice Festival's Composers Studio; a Clarendon Scholar of Oxford University; and an Extension-Division faculty member of composition at Juilliard in New York, where he is based full-time. Landau's work is published by Just A Theory Press, while select pieces are published by G. Schirmer and Edition Peters.

Long Bio

Jake Landau (he/him), b. 1995, is an American composer with a uniquely genre-spanning career focused in new classical music and musical theater. His works have been performed by the New York Philharmonic, Houston Grand Opera, and Tony Award-winning Broadway stars in venues as diverse as Carnegie Hall, Birdland Jazz Club, and the Royal Palace of Amsterdam.

Landau earned his bachelor’s degree at The Juilliard School under John Corigliano and a master's degree with First Class Honours from Oxford University. There, and as a Composition Fellow at summer institutions including the prestigious Aspen Music Festival, Landau created his core body of work in contemporary classical chamber and vocal music. At the same time, he worked in premier pop music studios, experimental queer nightclubs, and as a pianist for both opera and Broadway productions. This unusual background led him to a sound that at turns explores and ignores genre, in which hit-factory hooks interact with the concept-driven architectures of classical music.  

Significant premieres include Landau’s first opera, Pietà, which debuted in an innovative film format documenting the show’s delayed opening due to Covid and subsequent reading in New York. Filmed in 2020, Pietà went on to win the “Best Music Documentary” laurels at such festivals as The People’s Film Festival, RAGFF New York City, and Malabar Music Festival. The full production of Pietà was mounted in 2021 at The Narnia Festival in Italy with the composer conducting from the piano, while the American premiere was held at Oklahoma City University's prestigious opera and musical theater department in 2023. His second opera, a companion piece to Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas titled & Aeterna, premiered at the same festival in Italy the year after Pietà.

Landau’s “The Coin Toss”, a musical theater song cycle, was premiered at the legendary Birdland Jazz Club by Broadway's Sam Gravitte and has since been performed at Lincoln Center (THEATRE NOW's Soundbites Festival), as well as at a revue of Landau's music featuring 2024 Tony-winner Maleah Joi Moon and Joel Perez. A song cycle with music, lyrics, and orchestrations by Landau, “The Coin Toss” garnered the following review from Broadway World: “though one is reluctant to use The S Word, Mr. Landau’s composition is so creative and innovative that one cannot help but be reminded of another musical theater titan whom everyone admires [Sondheim].” 

In addition to his composing, Landau is an accomplished lyricist, orchestrator, music director, and Early Music keyboardist. In these capacities he has arranged concerts for a wide range of performers, from Baroque cellists and indie rockers to NBC and Broadway stars, including Katrina Lenk and George Abud at iconic venues like The Duplex, The Greenroom 42, and 54 Below. 

Landau is the youngest-ever winner of the Walter Hinrichsen Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; one of NYFOS’S (New York Festival of Song) “9 under 34” composers; founding director of The New Voice Festival's Composers Studio; a Clarendon Scholar of Oxford University; and an Extension-Division faculty member of composition at Juilliard in New York, where he is based full-time. Landau's work is published by Just A Theory Press, while select pieces are published by G. Schirmer and Edition Peters.