A true master; Virtuoso organist Paul Jacobs a nationwide draw for students.

• Position: LIVING

Byline: Richard Duckett

This week, 42 young people from across the country are in Worcester pursuing a pipe dream.

To be more accurate, they are participating in a program called Pipe Organ Encounter where young organists ranging in age from 13 to 18 will take master classes, private lessons, practice sessions and give and attend performances with a faculty of 22 regional, national and internationally renowned organists to guide them.

In short, very worthy - but, dare one suggest that some people outside pipe organ circles might think it a less than totally exciting endeavor?

Not if you encounter Paul Jacobs, one of the Pipe Organ Encounter faculty this week and chairman of the organ department at the Juilliard School.

"It is true that the organ can be played in a dull listless way, and it has. And unfortunately it has turned audiences away," Jacobs remarked during a recent interview. "The organ should above all be exciting."

Jacobs, 31, has caused a lot of excitement in the music world with his brilliant playing and exuberant style. The Worcester Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, the host this week's POE, obviously approves of Jacobs since they invited him.

Asked if Jacobs has been a breath of fresh air, Frank Corbin, director and faculty coordinator of the POE, said "Not only that, I think he's the greatest living organist, and I'm serious about that. He's an extraordinary talent."

The Arizona Star has written that "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.''

Elsewhere, however (dare one say in stuffier circles?), eyebrows have been raised.

Is Jacobs aware of that?

"Certainly," he said, with a certain amount of relish in his voice.

"My objective as a performer is to bring beauty to life and to move the listener. I choose not to be bothered by restraints that other musicians feel restricted by."

The Pipe Organ Encounter program, which began Sunday and runs through Saturday, is an educational outreach of the American Guild of Organists. The first POE was in 1988 when Jacobs was an 11-year-old. Students are staying at Assumption College this week, but lessons and performances will take them to locations all over the city including All Saints Church, Trinity Lutheran Church and Wesley United Methodist...