Sunday, December 2, 2007
3:00 P.M.
Mead Memorial Chapel
Paul Jacobs, organist
Before his recital here one year ago, Middlebury concertgoers overheard rumors that Paul Jacobs might very well be the world’s greatest living organist. That recital proved the rumors to be well-founded. Jacobs brings Mead Chapel’s powerful Gress-Miles organ to life again this year, as we warmly welcome him back to play a program of music by Felix Mendelssohn, Maurice Duruflé, Louis Vierne, and Julius Reubke.
Performing Arts Series Director Paul Nelson commented, “The first notes of Paul Jacobs’s recital here last December swept me away. It brought back a flood of memories: of the first music I ever heard performed, organ and choral music in a Lutheran church in Iowa; of my abandoned project to study organ in college and become a church musician; and of glorious organ playing heard at services and concerts in Mead Chapel spanning four decades. Paul Jacobs is one of the most gifted and accomplished musicians of our age."
Tickets: $15/12/5.
http://go.middlebury.edu/tickets or 802-443-MIDD (6433).
Program:
MENDELSSOHN Sonata in F minor, Op. 65, No. 1
Allegro moderato e serioso
Adagio
Andante - Recitativo
Allegro assai vivace
DURUFLE Sicilienne from Suite, Op. 5
VIERNE 24 Pieces En Style Libre, Op.31: Berceuse
VIERNE Sixth Symphony In B, Op. 59: Finale - Allegro molto
Intermission
REUBKE Sonata on The 94th Psalm
Grave-Larghetto
1. O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth,
shew thyself.
2. Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render
a reward to the proud.
Allegro con fuoco
3. O LORD, how long shall the wicked triumph?
6. They slay the widow and the stranger,
and murder the fatherless.
7. Yet they say, The LORD shall not see,
neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.
Adagio
17. Unless the LORD had been my help,
my soul had almost dwelt in silence.
19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me
thy comforts delight my soul.
Allegro
22. But the LORD is my defense; and my God
is the rock of my refuge.
23. And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity,
and shall cut them off in their own wickedness.
For additional program notes, please contact Events and Residency Manager Allison Coyne Carroll at carroll@middlebury.edu
Artist Biography:
Paul Jacobs has re-invigorated the American organ scene with his once-in-a-generation gifts as a performer. He is widely applauded for his prodigious technique, charismatic stage presence, and "an unbridled joy of music-making" (Baltimore Sun). Possessing a vast repertoire spanning from the 16th century through contemporary times, Mr. Jacobs has performed throughout North America as well as in South America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. In 2003 Mr. Jacobs was invited to join the faculty of The Juilliard School, and the following year was named chairman of the organ department, one of the youngest faculty appointments in Juilliard's history. He has, as the Cleveland Plain Dealer noted, "risen to the top of his field with unusual speed."
Known for his "charismatic showmanship and unflagging exuberance" (The Wall Street Journal), Paul Jacobs came to international attention in 2000, when, at the age of 23, he twice performed the complete organ works of J.S. Bach in 14 consecutive evenings, in New York City and in Philadelphia. Later in the year he trumped that achievement by performing the complete works again in a spectacular 18-hour non-stop marathon in Pittsburgh. Mr. Jacobs is also well known for his Messiaen performances and has played the composer's entire output in nine-hour marathon concerts in eight U.S. cities since 2002--Atlanta, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC, Chicago, where the Chicago Tribune called him "one of the most supremely gifted young organists of his generation, " and in New York, where The New York Times praised his "supple technique and vivid interpretive imagination."
Paul Jacobs began studying the piano at the age of six and the organ at age 13. By the age of 15 he was appointed head organist of a parish of 3,500 families in his hometown of Washington, Pennsylvania. Mr. Jacobs studied at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he double-majored in organ with John Weaver and harpsichord with Lionel Party. He subsequently received the Master of Music degree and Artist Diploma from Yale, studying organ with Thomas Murray. Most recently, Mr. Jacobs was invited to join the Yale University Council Committee on the School of Music by University President Richard Levin.
Mr. Jacobs has been honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Yale School of Music and is the first organist ever to receive the Harvard Musical Association's Arthur W. Foote Award. Juilliard has honored Mr. Jacobs by appointment to the William Schuman Scholars Chair for 2007. The award, named for a former president of the school, is given annually to an artist and educator who has made significant contributions to both the intellectual and artistic life of the Juilliard community.
In addition to concert appearances and teaching, Paul Jacobs has been a featured artist at national and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists and performs frequently at festivals throughout the U.S. and abroad. He has appeared on American Public Media's "St. Paul Sunday" and "Pipedreams," Bavarian Radio, Brazilian Arts Television, ABC's World News Tonight, NPR's Morning Edition, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and CBC Radio.
In July 2007 Mr. Jacobs was a judge at the St. Albans International Organ Competition in England, the oldest such competition in Europe. He has captured first prizes in numerous competitions himself, including the 1999 Fort Wayne National Organ Competition, and the 1998 Albert SchweitzerNational Organ Competition.
Artist Website:
http://www.concertartists.com/PJ.html
Press Quotes:
“Paul Jacobs, with a rigorous slate of concerts in addition to his work as chairman of Juilliard’s organ department, has become one of the most prominent organists in the United States.”— The American Organist, 2007
"THE HYPE DOESN'T DO JACOBS JUSTICE-HE'S BRILLIANT
Jacobs arrived with an impressive set of credentials...But believe me, none of the hype was exaggerated. Jacobs is the real thing, a brilliant talent, who played this difficult program with flair and panache-not to mention from memory. It was a riveting evening of music...the program was breathtaking, and a joy to watch." --Providence Journal, Rhode Island
"This country's best known organist." --Hartford Courant, 7 Oct 07
"Mr. Jacobs is the chairman of the organ department at the Juilliard School, which presented the concert, and in recent years his richly characterized, thoroughly serious performance style has won him a large audience in New York. In some ways a work like the 'Livre' is perfect for him: It demands virtuosity but resists showiness. Mr. Jacobs tapped into its otherworldly drama but kept its central purpose-evoking, exploring and celebrating the great spiritual mysteries-fully in focus." --The New York Times, 11 October 2007
"Jacobs is precisely what the organ scene needs right now: a dynamic young virtuoso who stands to further popularize this mighty, venerable and underexposed instrument." --Los Angeles Times
"Paul Jacobs, who at just 29 is among the organ's youngest and most accomplished champions...Mr. Jacobs' performances have stirred a renaissance of appreciation for organ music among critics andaudiences not typically engaged by the instrument." -American Public Media
"One of the most supremely gifted young organists of his generation." --Chicago Tribune
"Charismatic showmanship and unflagging exuberance." --The Wall Street Journal
"An exceptional musical experience....supple technique and
vivid interpretive imagination." --The New York Times
"If there is such a thing as an organ prodigy, Paul Jacobs seems to be it...a major-league talent." --Gramophone