Fourteen years ago, our Hawai’i Chapter of the American Guild of Organists took a leap of faith when it decided to present organist Paul Jacobs for a concert.

I had been absolutely wowed by Paul’s performance at St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City and vowed to have him come to Hawaii for a concert. He made musical history at the age of 23 when he played Bach’s complete organ works in an 18-hour marathon performance on the 250th anniversary of the composer’s death. In 2004 Paul had just been named chairman of the organ department at the famed Juilliard School, one of the youngest faculty members ever to be appointed for a chairmanship.

This is what I wrote fourteen years ago for The American Organist magazine after Paul’s concert in Hawaii:

The 41 members of the Hawaii Chapter American Guild of Organists took a leap of faith when they signed a contract for a famous organist and waited for the fruits of their labors. It was their Dean, Katherine Crosier, who had heard Paul Jacobs the previous summer at the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians conference in New York and convinced the Executive Board that they ought to bring the artist to Hawaii.

Previous experiences with visiting performers made the chapter leery of committing large sums of money for artist fees and expenses. The Hawaii audience frequently turns out for local performers whom they know and support, but not for out-of-town guests, even those with international reputations. For example, when singer Marilyn Horne gave a recital a few years back, the house was only half full. Another example of Hawaii’s unpredictable concert turnout was for the Roger Wagner Chorale which performed to a half –empty house.

Secondly, the Board had decided the best venue for Jacobs to play was at St. Andrew’s Cathedral, because of its large 4-manual Aeolian-Skinner organ and its capacity to hold 500 people. The first hurdle was in asking permission of the Cathedral musician, Dr. Arlan Sunnarborg, if the concert could be held there, since he was not a member of the Board. The chapter found out, however, that the Cathedral’s policy was to offer free admission to musical events and only ask for donations. Otherwise the Guild would have been subject to a room rental charge of $1,000. Given that the typical audience will only “put a dollar in the plate”, it was certainly a risk the Board had to consider. Dean Crosier told the others that Jacobs’ exciting style of playing would have people wanting to “just throw money!”

Free admission would allow as many people as possible to enjoy the concert and no one would be turned away because of inability to pay. “I think that Paul Jacobs will do for organ playing what Kristi Yamaguchi did for ice-skating,” Crosier was quoted in a chapter newsletter, recalling that there was a surge in iceskating lessons at that time. If necessary, funds to pay for the concert could be drawn from the Hawaii Chapter’s Scholarship Fund. The chapter offers to pay one-half the cost of organ lessons for one year to successful applicants. The fund was started sixteen years earlier from a member who celebrated a milestone birthday and asked that checks be designated for this purpose. To date there have been thirty-seven students who have received scholarships to study the organ, and a number of them have become church organists.

Over the next ten months, articles appeared regularly in the Hawaii Chapter newsletter about the upcoming Paul Jacobs’ concert, and members were encouraged to start talking about the event to their families, friends and church members. Crosier even convinced one of her students to change his vacation plans in order to attend the concert.

The Board started research on a bulk mailing to all churches in the state, and found the addresses of 500 Hawaii churches on the Internet. A bulk mail permit was applied for, and received just one day before the mailing was sent out, which included names from a concert mailing list which had been developed by a local church. In the mailing, Katherine Crosier wrote:

“I need to go to the dictionary to describe the absolutely phenomenal playing of organist Paul Jacobs. Words are woefully inadequate in explaining the excitement of this young player, who is so obviously in command of “The King of Instruments.” In all the hundreds of organ concerts which I have attended, never have I been to one so unforgettable. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Hawaii audiences to experience a musical genius.”

Several members spent a total of 11 hours assembling, folding and addressing the mailing which included 1100 names. News releases were sent out to five newspapers, public radio and commercial television stations. AGO members were asked to put notices in their church newsletters and bulletins and to make public announcements in their church services. A round of email messages were sent to many local churches, calling Jacobs the “Jake Shimabukuro” of the organ. Shimabukuro is a Hawaii-born ukulele virtuoso whose dazzling technique and wide range of repertoire make him a local household name.

The week before the concert, a double-page spread with a large color photo of Jacobs at the Mander organ at St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City appeared in the evening newspaper. Burl Burlingame of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin had interviewed Jacobs over the telephone, with the headline, “Pulling Out All the Stops.” A color photo of Jacobs, along with a brief article, appeared in Hawaii’s largest newspaper, the Honolulu Advertiser. A tourist from Fresno, CA opened the paper that morning and screamed with delight when she saw Jacobs’ picture. She had recently heard Jacobs play in California and didn’t know about his Hawaii engagement before then. On the day of the concert, Jacobs was interviewed by Gene Schiller of Hawaii Public Radio for nearly half an hour, where he was able to talk freely about the “terrifying joy” of music for the pipe organ.

The phone was literally “ringing off the hook” after the radio interview and newspaper articles appeared, and Crosier said, “If we don’t have a full house, we will have died trying!” People started streaming into the Cathedral a full hour before the concert was to begin. It soon became clear that additional chairs were needed for the overflow crowd, causing a slight delay to the beginning of the concert while ushers set up extra chairs. Notably a number of children and young adults were in attendance as well as many people who had never attended an organ recital. The five hundred programs were all quickly distributed and there were a number of people who stood throughout.

From the opening Sinfonia from Cantata 29 by Bach, (which Jacobs dedicated to Dr. Robert Anderson in the audience, retired organ professor from Southern Methodist University), to the closing Toccata by Maurice Duruflé from the “Suite”, opus 5, the audience was mesmerized by Jacobs’ charismatic, exhilarating performance and stellar interpretation. His rapport with the audience was clearly evident, and people leaped to their feet at the end of the concert, with lusty shouts of “Bravo!”

Even though the console at St. Andrew’s Cathedral can be moved into the center of the altar area, the Board additionally made arrangements to have a video projection from the side of the console, effecting an “up close and personal” view of the organist’s hands and feet. For many, this was one of the most important aspects of the success of the concert. One person said, “I have sung in the church choir for fifty years and I never knew the organist used not only the toes of their feet, but also their heels!”

At intermission, membership chair Karl Bachman thanked the Cathedral staff for their cooperation in co-hosting the recital. He then related how Dean Crosier conveyed her enthusiasm for Paul Jacobs to the Board months ago and challenged them to sign the contract, in spite of the fact that it would mean committing an entire year’s budget to this project. Because the AGO could not suggest a donation amount, he reminded them that the lowest Honolulu Symphony concert ticket was $20, and he had never paid less than $50 a ticket for an organ recital in Japan, to give them some perspective. After the concert was over, the offering was counted, with the staggering sum of almost double the expenses of the concert.

At a reception for Jacobs after the concert, one of the Board members congratulated Dean Crosier, “You pulled it off!” It was truly a leap of faith which landed clearly on the side of unqualified success. But the triumph was due to a grass roots effort, with many people spreading the gospel of the pipe organ, and of course, to the unparalleled and brilliant artistry of Paul Jacobs.

Paul Jacobs’ concert was the first of our “Annual Organ Concerts,” and in the last thirteen years the Hawaii Chapter has presented “Rising Stars” who have gone on to have stellar concert careers and/or positions in prominent churches. Next week we will be presenting organist Adam Pajan on Sunday, March 17 at 2:00 pm at Central Union Church. He will be my houseguest beginning next Thursday and I’ll write more about his accomplishments in future posts.