About Jake Nissly

Jacob Nissly is the Principal Percussionist of the San Francisco Symphony. Prior to his appointment in San Francisco, Nissly was the Principal Percussionist of the Cleveland Orchestra for two seasons and the Principal Percussionist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for one season. Nissly also spent two years as a fellow in the New World Symphony.

Nissly is the Co-Chair of the percussion department at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Nissly is also a regular coach at the New World Symphony. He previously taught at the Eastman School of Music and Cleveland Institute of Music. He has served as a percussion coach for the Aspen Music Festival, National Youth Orchestra-USA, Verbier Festival and others. Nissly can be heard on recordings with the San Francisco Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and playing drum set on the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s Grammy award winning recording of John Adams’ “City Noir.” In 2019, Nissly premiered Adam Schoenberg’s Percussion Concert “Losing Earth” with the San Francisco Symphony.

Nissly holds a Bachelor of Music and Jazz Studies degree from Northwestern University, where he studied with Michael Burritt, James Ross, and Paul Wertico. He received his Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Greg Zuber and Dan Druckman.