Born in Tsingtao (Qingdao), China, in 1919, to an American mother and Russian father, Jacob Avshalomov fell naturally into the world of composing and conducting orchestral music. His father, Siberian-born Aaron Avshalomov, composed music in China for thirty years, and in his final three years there, conducted the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. When Jacob was a boy, the family spent three years in Portland, where his father conducted the B'nai B'rith chorale and orchestra. His parents separated, and after working as a teenager for a manufacturer in China, Jacob Avshalomov immigrated to the United States with his mother in 1937. His father followed in 1947. Jacob married Doris Felde in 1943, and their sons David and Daniel continued the family musical tradition.

After studying composition with Ernst Tock in Los Angeles, Avshalomov enrolled at Reed College in Portland, and joined the Portland Junior Symphony as a musician and apprentice to conductor Jacques Gershkovitch, a family friend. After earning his bachelor of arts and master of arts degrees in music from the Eastman School, he was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II. A Ditson Fellowship allowed him to study at Columbia University after the war, and he stayed on to teach and conduct the Collegiate Chorale. He returned to Portland in 1954 to succeed Gershkovitch as conductor and musical director of the Portland Junior Symphony. Under Avshalomov's direction, the symphony changed its name to the Portland Youth Philharmonic in 1978. For 40 years, Jacob Avshalomov led the youth orchestra through concerts and recording sessions and on six international tours to Europe and Asia. In 1999, the youth orchestra feted his 80th birthday with a special alumni concert.

Avshalomov’s compositions include choral, chamber, and orchestral works, as well as vocal and keyboard pieces. He also worked collaboratively with his father, and in later years he set his wife's poems to music. Both as a composer and conductor, Avshalomov received many national awards and distinctions, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the New York Music Critics Award, and appointment to the National Council on Humanities. Locally, he was named Portland’s First Citizen and received the Governor’s Arts Award. His memoir, "Avshalomov’s Winding Way, pays tribute to his father Aaron’s musicianship and formative role in nurturing Jacob Avshalomov's musical talent. Jacob Avshalomov died in 2013.