Jacob Caines

Jacob Caines is a conductor, musicologist, and performer based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Jacob is a faculty member at Dalhousie University where he conducts the Dalhousie Wind Ensemble and teaches aural skills and theory. He is also completing a PhD at Concordia University in Queer Research-Creation, Queer Geography, and Urban Scenography.

He is founder of ClassicalQueer.com, a project dedicated to interviews with Queer+ performers, writers, musicians, administrators and artists. The CQ project has also created the Canadian Database of Queer+ Classical Musicians as well as the CQ Podcast which interviews musicians from around the world with co-host Sammi Jane Smith - an astrophysicist and Queer+ music specialist in northern Sweden.

​As a performer, Jacob was the music director for the award-winning national tour of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. He is also a founding member of the ALKALI Collective which performs, and commissions works by living Canadian queer and BIPOC composers. The group is proud to be funded by the Canada Council, Arts Nova Scotia, and the City of Halifax. Jacob is an active adjudicator and clinician and has worked with the Canadian Music Competition and dozens of ensembles and arts groups across Canada.