MM '19
Jake Mezera was born and raised near Chicago. He took up trombone at age 10 with Timothy Riordan. During middle and high school, he attended the Merit School of Music’s Tuition-free Conservatory and played in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. At age 13, Jake was selected to perform as principal trombone under Gustavo Dudamel in a side-by-side workshop with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra. He was selected for the same workshop in 2011 as principal trombone under the direction of Ricardo Mutti. At Merit, he played in the honors trombone quartet, also known as The Bone Rangers, coached by Tim Riordan. His quartet won several competitions such as the 16th annual Rembrandt Chamber Players High School Chamber Music Competition and Midwest Young Artists Discover National Chamber Music Competition. In 2012, his quartet performed a concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a result of winning the 2012 Young Artist Competition at the CSO. Jake received the 2013 Mary Herron Replogle College Scholarship from the Merit School of Music. In the same year, he was also selected to be a member of the inaugural National Youth Orchestra of the USA conducted by Valery Gergiev. Jake went to The Juilliard School for his bachelor’s degree where he studied with Joseph Alessi, principal trombone of the New York Philharmonic. While at Juilliard, Jake played under many notable conductors such as David Robertson, Alan Gilbert, James Gaffigan, Vladimir Jurowski, Fabio Luisi, Pablo Heras-Casado, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, David Zinman, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Emmanuel Villaume and Thomas Adès. Jake also performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra as an extra musician. After coming to Northwestern, where he studies with Michael Mulcahy, Christopher Davis, Timothy Higgins, Douglas Wright, and Randall Hawes, he performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a substitute on multiple occasions. His quartet, the eNq, won the 2018 International Trombone Association Quartet Competition.