Paul Jacobs, organ
Photo by Priscilla C. Scott
GRAMMY Award-winning American organist Paul Jacobs opened the Jacksonville Symphony season with a world premiere of distinguished American composer Lowell Liebermann’s Organ Concerto under the baton of music director Courtney Lewis. The concert took place September 29, 2023 at the Jacoby Symphony Hall, Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts, and was repeated the next day. The concerto was co-commissioned by the Jacksonville Symphony and the Oregon Bach Festival. Mr. Jacobs played on the Bryan Concert Organ, known originally as the Casavant Opus 553, which was first built in 1914 for the First Baptist Church of Syracuse in New York. The pipe organ was transported and restored in Jacksonville’s Jacoby Symphony Hall in 2005.
Less than a week later, Mr. Jacobs flew to Los Angeles to participate in the gala celebration of Walt Disney Hall's 20th anniversary on October 5th. He performed the Allegro giocoso from Poulenc's Organ Concerto in G Minor by Francis Poulenc under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel. This concert will be broadcast early next year on PBS's Great Performances.
On the heels of the gala concerto, Mr. Jacobs was immediately invited back to the Los Angeles Philharmonic for a performance October 24th of Lou Harrison's Organ Concerto with Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Paul Jacobs, organ
Photo by Priscilla C. Scott
Upcoming performances include the inaugural concert November 4th of a newly created series entitled "Thornwillow Concerts at Calvary," curated by composer/pianist Lowell Liebermann. This recital celebrates the restoration of the historic Skinner & Son pipe organ at the Calvary Presbyterian Church. The full program follows:
Johann Sebastian Bach Sinfonia to Cantata No. 29
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Fantasia in F Minor, K. 594
Dudley Buck Concert Variations on The Star-Spangled Banner, Op. 23
César Franck Prelude, Fugue, and Variation, Op. 18
Alexandre Guilmant Sonata No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 42
I. Introduction and Allegro
II. Pastorale
III. Finale
Other highlights of the season include Samuel Barber’s Toccata Festiva with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; What Do We Make of Bach? by John Harbison with the New England Philharmonic; the Grand Concerto for Organ and Orchestra by Stephen Paulus with the Toledo Symphony; and a premiere of a new version of Michael Daugherty’s Once Upon a Castle for Organ and Orchestra with the Las Vegas Philharmonic. Additionally, Mr. Jacobs has been invited by the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg to give a recital of Messiaen’s towering Livre du Saint Sacrément. He will be presented by the Nashville Symphony in an all-Bach solo recital.