Grammy winning organist to perform Sunday

The twelfth season of the Crescendo Concert Series continues this weekend with a return performance by internationally known organist Paul Jacobs.

Jacobs will perform at 3 p.m. Sunday at First United Methodist Church, 801 First Capitol Drive, St. Charles. Musicologist Nancy Rubenstein will give a pre-concert talk at 2:30 p.m.

This is Jacobs second performance for Crescendo. He last took part in the concert series during the 2008-09 season.

George Morris, president of Crescendo, remembers that earlier performance: "We were all so astounded," he said. "You expect him to play well, but he was a real virtuoso. He plays with lots of emotion."

A native of Pennsylvania, Jacobs began playing the organ at age 13. Two years later he was named organist for his home parish and was playing six Masses a weekend. By age 23 he made musical history by playing Johann Sebastian Bach's complete organ works during an 18-hour performance on the 250th anniversary of Bach's dealth. He studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and Yale University.

Jacobs has performed all over the country and internationally and has appeared on American Public Media's Pipedreams, National Public Radio's Morning Edition, Robert Schuller's Hour of Power and ABC-TV's World News Tonight. He recently won a Grammy award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra) for his album Livre du Saint Sacrement.

At age 34, Jacobs performs 40 to 50 concerts a year while serving as chair in the organ department at the Julliard School of Music.

"He's a marvel," Rubenstein said. "He's just amazing in that at his age he can perform as well and as much."

The program for Sunday's performance opens with Fantasia for Organ by John Weaver and continues with Prelude in F Minor by Nadia Boulanger, Gigue Fogue in G Major BWV577 by Bach and Sonata in F Minor, Op. 65, No. 1 by Felix Mendelssohn. After an intermission, the second half of the show will feature Maurice Durufle's Suite, Op. 5.

"And then the audience will probably want 20 or so encores," Rubenstein said.

Rubenstein is looking forward to the performance. "You can never put enough Bach in an organ show to please me."

An organ major in college, Rubenstein said the piece that makes up the second half of the show is really challenging for musicians. "I don't know how he plays it," she said. "I think the audience will be really interested in it. It's so atmospheric I think they'll eat it up."

The appeal of organ music is clear to Rubenstein and Morris.

"The organ has such a wide range of sounds and volumes and pitches," Morris said.

"It gives you a feeling of such power," Rubenstein said. "It offers so much variety and there's so much history to delve into. It's a really rewarding instrument to play."

The Cresendo Concert Series will end its 2010-11 season on May 22 with a performance by Michael Barta, violin, and Arthur Houle, organ.

Tickets for Paul Jacobs cost $15 for adults and $5 for students and can be purchased at the door. For more information visit www.crescendoconcerts.org.