Paul Jacobs (born June 22, 1930 in New York City; died September 25, 1983) was an American pianist. Jacobs attended PS 95 and DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx; studied at the Juilliard School, then moved to France after his graduation in 1951. There he became associated with Pierre Boulez, playing in his Domaine Musical and at the International Vacation Courses for new music at Darmstadt. He returned to New York in 1960. He was best known for his performances of twentieth century music but also gained wide recognition for his work with early keyboards, performing frequently with Baroque ensembles. For Nonesuch records he recorded the major piano works of Debussy including the Preludes, Etudes and Images. His was one of the first recordings of Debussy's three 1894 Images, which had only recently been published. He had a particular interest in the music of Busoni and made several important recordings of it (now reissued on the Arbiter label). He also recorded the complete solo piano music of Schoenberg. He had a long collaboration with the American composer, Carter, recording most of Carter's solo piano music and ensemble works with keyboard. In addition, he gave first performances of music by Berio, Henze, Messiaen, Sessions and Stockhausen. Jacobs was the New York Philharmonic's official pianist and harpsichordist from 1961 until his death. He held the post during the tenure of three music directors: Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez and Zubin Mehta. He taught at Tanglewood and at the Mannes and Manhattan music schools in New York and, for fifteen years, at the City University of New York. He died of an AIDS-related illness in 1983.
