"To call him unconventional would be telling only half the story. Jacobs is turning out to be revolutionary in the organ world....Renowned for his passionate approach...Given his youth and his approach, surely he is opening the genre and his instrument to younger audiences." (Arizona Daily Star)
"This country's best known organist."(Hartford Courant)
"Jacobs is already considered one of the greatest players of the age." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
"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)
"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)
"There was a time when superstar organists walked the earth....Enter Paul Jacobs. A proclivity toward showmanship appeared early in his career...a rare thrill."
(Philadelphia City Paper)
"Widely regarded as the most important organist in America." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
"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)
"The baby-faced Juilliard professor and wunderkind of the organ." (The New York Times)
Paul Jacobs "Artists have to present music of the highest caliber that is full of emotion to attract audiences and bring in new listeners....A good instrument is important, but ultimately music comes from the performer and not the instrument." (Clavier, May-June 2007)
"Masterful performance...was played to the hilt with Jacobs' prodigious rhythmic drive and delightfully nuanced phrases....The composer was simply awed by Jacobs' flawless performance from memory....Jacobs' performance style is marked by drama and gesture."
(The American Organist, review of national AGO convention in Los Angeles)
"Phenomenally gifted and intelligent
young artist." (The Diapason)
"One of the most highly skilled and charismatic young organists in the music world."
(The Springfield Republican, MA)
"A New Prince for the King of Instruments"
(Minnesota Public Radio)
PAUL JACOBS'S ORGAN ARTISTRY, PAINTED WITH VIVID COLORS: Paul Jacobs's recital glowed with synesthesia: You could hear the colors of the music....intense and virtuosic...light-hued and lyrical...Jacobs extracted maximum clarity from the soon-to-be rebuilt organ, making a pretty good instrument sound like a gorgeously parti-colored one." (Washington Post)
"The splendid New York-based organist Paul Jacobs, who has played every note the late composer Olivier Messiaen ever wrote for the instrument."
(Washington Post)
"A keyboard whiz kid who has managed to make the often-staid repertoire of the organ seem fresh and exciting." (Providence Journal, RI)
"Three standing ovations...Jacobs has garnered superlatives from the nation's top music critics...He is chairman of the Organ Departmentat the Juilliard School. He is also a good-looking, consummate showman with a passionate, missionary-like regard for classical music in general and the organ repertoire in particular."
(The Maui News, HI)
"Paul Jacobs is rapidly becoming the best-known organist since E. Power Biggs or Virgil Fox...Jacobs' crusade to take the pipe organ into the larger world of classical music-and beyond-is bearing fruit." (The Columbus Dispatch OH)
"There must be thousands of organs in the United States. But be honest: Can you name any organists? One young player, 28-year-old Paul Jacobs, is working to bring the instrument out of the choir loft and into the mainstream. He's made a meteoric rise on the concert scene over the past five years and is already head of the organ department at The Juilliard School...Jacobs does have a couple of important 20th-century forebears in proselytizing the joys of organ music. E. Power Biggs and Virgil Fox were larger-than-life personalities who played with flair and showmanship. Their legacies live on through recordings and fan clubs. But no one has come close to matching them in terms of rank--until Jacobs."(Times Union, Albany NY)
"Good news! The spirit of the legendary American organ virtuoso Virgil Fox has returned in the person of the impressively talented and impossibly young Paul Jacobs....His performance--quirky, headstrong, and immensely musical--brought to life the heritage of Fox, who convinced several generations of Americans that nothing is more exciting than organ literature played with technical command and artistic flair....The encore, a favorite of Fox's audiences, was Bach's Fugue in D Major, played with all the reckless abandon and lavish sonorities of the master, who would have been both pleased and envious." (Herald Tribune, Sarasota FL)
"CLASSICAL MUSIC'S KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR: It's not often you see a classical organist being asked for autographs, at least not since the glory days of E. Power Biggs and Virgil Fox, but there was Paul Jacobs signing programs for a long line of fans after his recital...Phenomenal keyboard technique...a spectacular rendition...a sublime sense of restraint...It felt like a masterpiece in Jacob's playing."
(St. Petersburg Times, FL)
"Among the very finest organists now before the public."
(The Courier-Journal, Louisville)
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