Jacob Avshalomov was born in China in 1919, the son of the composer. He moved to the United States in 1937 and studied at the Eastman School of Music. In the years that followed he divided his time between conducting and teaching at The Columbia University. His compositions have won several awards, and he has held a number of positions in music administration. Though now in his 80's, he is still a very active person in the field of music, his son, David following as the third generation of conductors.