Jacobs is the youngest-ever department chair at Juilliard.

Growing up on Sara Drive in South Strabane Township, Paul Jacobs always knew he wanted to perform classical music. His weekly Mass attendance to Immaculate Conception Church made him decide that his instrument of choice would be the pipe organ. Now, at age 29, he has realized his dream, and has become not only one of the world’s most celebrated organists, but also the youngest-ever department chair at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City.

“Even though I didn’t grow up in a musical family, my family has always been very supportive of classical music,” said Jacobs, a 1995 graduate of Trinity High School. He recalls visiting his grandparents’ home and listening to classical music on vinyl discs, and imagining himself as the orchestra conductor. “I was probably six or seven years old, and I had a baton that I would use to conduct an imaginary orchestra,” he said.

About the same time, Jacobs began formal piano studies with Antionette Resciniti, and continued later with Vicky Sisson and Susan Woodard. By age 13, Jacobs had found the true love of his life in the pipe organ at the Immaculate Conception Parish. “I became fascinated with ‘the king of instruments,’ and I would watch the organist play the postlude after Mass each Saturday night or Sunday morning, and I knew at that point that I wanted to play the pipe organ.”

Jacobs became a piano student of George Rau, organist and director of music and worship at First Presbyterian Church in Washington, and soon began intense study of the organ. “When he came to me as a piano student, the first time he even touched the piano to play a song, I knew that this was an extraordinary talent,” Rau said. “There was something in his playing that was very special, and when he wanted to play the organ, I encouraged him to do so.”

Jacobs made it a point to learn all he could about the pipe organ and all of its idiosyncrasies. “I was so fixated with this very complex musical instrument that I would spend every waking moment in the organ loft at Immaculate Conception taking photographs of different parts of the organ, climbing ladders and studying all of the pipes on my own. I was interested not only with the sounds of the organ, but also the mechanical aspects of these complex instruments.” Rau said Jacobs’ obvious passion for the pipe organ helped him to become his best student.

“He not only had great talent, but he also had a great work ethic,” Rau said. “I think when he saw the organ (at Immaculate Conception) and loved it so much, he realized that he was going to have to work very hard to accomplish the goal of playing the instrument. That motivated him to practice.” The hard work resulted in Jacobs becoming the organist at Immaculate Conception by the time he was fifteen. “He always had a maturity in his playing that most students his age just don’t have, and it was fairly early on that I realized that he really could go on and do great things.”

The great things began when Jacobs was accepted to a full scholarship at the prestigious Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, then later earned his Master’s degree at Yale University. He became part of the faculty at Juilliard in 2003, and department chair in 2004, but not before he began setting the world on fire with his performances and concerts which have received rave reviews from the public and the classical music press.

He has performed concerts across the United States, Europe, South America, Asia and Australia, and has done marathon recitals of the complete organ music of J.S. Bach and Olivier Messiaen. The well-known Bach recitals took place over 14 consecutive evenings in New York City and Philadelphia, then again in Pittsburgh, when he performed the complete works of Bach in an 18-hour non-stop marathon at Westminster Presbyterian Church. The Chicago Tribune called Jacobs, “One of the most supremely gifted young organists of his generation,” and similar reviews have come from throughout the world. His first CD, “Paul Jacobs Plays Bach,” was one of the top ten classical recordings of 2004, and earned him a Grammy Award nomination. Through it all, Jacobs looks back to his South Strabane roots, and the people who supported and encouraged him as a youngster.

“It was difficult, especially as a young boy interested in classical music to be accepted in this culture,” Jacobs said. Therefore, support came from his piano teachers and other adults. “George Rau, Antionette Resciniti, Susan Woodard, Vicky Sisson and Father John Bauer (of Immaculate Conception) were each mentors and friends, and very supportive of my abilities and my enthusiasm for classical music. It was difficult to find anyone of my age that approached classical music with the same zeal as me.”

Between his busy performance schedule, which literally takes him around the world, and his duties as department chair at Juilliard, Jacobs makes every effort to return to his South Strabane neighborhood to visit with his grandparents, Gino and Marie Novi, and mother, Mary Jean, who is married to county commissioner Larry Maggi (Paul’s father died before he was born). Often during those visits, Jacobs can be seen walking, while listening to classical music. “I always loved the out-of-doors, and I find that Southwestern Pennsylvania is very beautiful and scenic, especially the wooded areas behind Washington Hospital where I grew up.”

When he returns to his professional life, Jacobs strikes a balance between the teaching and performing.

From an educational standpoint, Jacobs visualizes an outreach program to schools across the United States to show young children “how spectacular classical music can be, and why we need this in our lives.”

As a performer, Jacobs’ goals have yet to be realized. “My own artistic aspirations are yet to be realized,” he said. “One of the great joys of playing great music that is that every time one sits down to the keyboard, one discovers new things.” •