Jacob Bitinas
General Biography
Jacob Bitinas in an educator, performer, and composer in Marietta, Georgia. He received his Bachelor in Music Education from The University of Alabama in May 2014. During his undergraduate, Jacob became interested in early music through his mentors, Gesa Kordes, Don Fader, and Gail Ann Schroeder. After completing his degree, he began teaching orchestra in Cobb County, Georgia and became involved with the Atlanta Early Music Alliance and the Atlanta viola da gamba community. Encouraged by Martha Bishop and Chrissy Spencer, he served as President of the Atlanta Early Music Alliance beginning in 2020 and became head of the Viola da Gamba Society of America’s New Music Committee in 2022. In 2023, Jacob received the degree of Master of Music in Composition.
Educator
Mr. Bitinas has presented at conferences and workshops at Columbus State University, the Chautauqua Institution, The University of Alabama, the Alabama Music Educators Association, Stephen F. Austin State University, and the Cobb County School District on topics related to early music, double bass performance, and music history education.
Jacob Bitinas is teaching his ninth year as the assistant orchestra director of Dickerson Middle School in Marietta, GA. Every day, Mr. Bitinas provides instruction to 450 orchestra students in sixth through eighth grade. In 2017, he began a student viola da gamba ensemble, the "Dickerson Viol Consort" described by Karin Brookes of Early Music America as "one of the great examples of early music education in k-12 public education." With the instruments loaned through the VdGSA's consort loan program, Mr. Bitinas introduces 7th and 8th grade students to music history by engaging them with Renaissance and Baroque music. Each year, up to 25 students receive coaching and lessons in groups of 5 before school each day as part of the Dickerson Viol Consort. This group has regular performance opportunities and participates in annual workshops like the Atlanta Early Music Alliance's Mid-Winter Workshop.
Performer
Jacob Bitinas has performed in professional ensembles on both viola da gamba and double bass. His concerts and recitals of early and modern music have taken place throughout the southeast. Notable groups with which he has performed include The Atlanta Opera, New Trinity Baroque, the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, Atlanta Schola Cantorum, Ritornello Baroque Ensemble, the Brasstown Concert Association, and Lauda Musicam of Atlanta.
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Composer
As a composer, Jacob Bitinas has been recognized by the Viola da Gamba Society of America as a winner of the 2017 International Leo M. Traynor Composition Competition for new music written for viols. His piece, "Eidolon No. 3", was premiered at the VdGSA Conclave in 2017 and is published by the Viola da Gamba Society. In 2023, Jacob received the degree of Master of Music in Composition from Stephen F. Austin State University. His composition teachers have included Martha Bishop, Stephen Lias, Ben Morris, and Tyler Taylor.
His catalogue of self-published works can be found here.