Biography
The Belgian organist Bart Jacobs ranks among the leading keyboard artists to have come forward from the Low Countries during the present century. His work has drawn particular attention for the ways in which he has investigated the organ’s possibilities as a continuo instrument.
Born in 1976, Jacobs pursued studies in organ, harpsichord, and continuo at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven, Belgium, where Reitze Smits instructed him on the organ and Kris Verhelst guided his work on harpsichord and continuo. He received master’s degrees in organ (2000) and harpsichord (2002), both awarded with highest distinction. While serving from 2000 onward as organist of the Brussels Cathedral Choir, he supplemented his training through master classes that frequently addressed historical performance practice and made several recordings of organ-and-choir repertoire with that ensemble. Between 2006 and 2010 he earned strong placements in major competitions; among these achievements was a first prize at the 2009 Schnitger Competition in Alkmaar, the Netherlands, making him the first Belgian recipient of that honor.
In 2012 Jacobs was named organist of the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels, whose 4,300-pipe instrument was built by Gerhard Grenzing. From that position he has undertaken extensive international touring with numerous early-music ensembles, among them Les Muffatti, Currende, Vox Luminis, Capilla Flamenca, Les Buffardins, Psallentes, the Pluto-Ensemble, the Hathor Consort, Collegium ad Mosam, the Vlaams Radiokoor, the Flanders Recorder Quartet, and BachPlus. His research has concentrated on the previously overlooked practice of employing large organs for continuo duties; one outcome of that inquiry is the double album Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott: Luther and the Music of the Reformation, recorded with Vox Luminis. He has also revived and performed previously lost organ concertos by J.S. Bach and C.P.E. Bach. In addition to the Grenzing instrument in Brussels, Jacobs appears on a smaller organ housed at the Onze-Lieve-Vroukerk in Bornem, Belgium, and resides in the Belgian town of Eikevliet.
Born in 1976, Jacobs pursued studies in organ, harpsichord, and continuo at the Lemmens Institute in Leuven, Belgium, where Reitze Smits instructed him on the organ and Kris Verhelst guided his work on harpsichord and continuo. He received master’s degrees in organ (2000) and harpsichord (2002), both awarded with highest distinction. While serving from 2000 onward as organist of the Brussels Cathedral Choir, he supplemented his training through master classes that frequently addressed historical performance practice and made several recordings of organ-and-choir repertoire with that ensemble. Between 2006 and 2010 he earned strong placements in major competitions; among these achievements was a first prize at the 2009 Schnitger Competition in Alkmaar, the Netherlands, making him the first Belgian recipient of that honor.
In 2012 Jacobs was named organist of the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels, whose 4,300-pipe instrument was built by Gerhard Grenzing. From that position he has undertaken extensive international touring with numerous early-music ensembles, among them Les Muffatti, Currende, Vox Luminis, Capilla Flamenca, Les Buffardins, Psallentes, the Pluto-Ensemble, the Hathor Consort, Collegium ad Mosam, the Vlaams Radiokoor, the Flanders Recorder Quartet, and BachPlus. His research has concentrated on the previously overlooked practice of employing large organs for continuo duties; one outcome of that inquiry is the double album Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott: Luther and the Music of the Reformation, recorded with Vox Luminis. He has also revived and performed previously lost organ concertos by J.S. Bach and C.P.E. Bach. In addition to the Grenzing instrument in Brussels, Jacobs appears on a smaller organ housed at the Onze-Lieve-Vroukerk in Bornem, Belgium, and resides in the Belgian town of Eikevliet.
Albums
