By JACK PALMER

palmer@crescent-news.com

DESHLER -- Jacob Taylor, a senior-to-be at Patrick Henry High School, will share his considerable musical talent with a pipe organ recital Sunday at 3 p.m. in St. Joseph Catholic Church in Sylvania.

Taylor, who lives in Deshler with his parents and three brothers, will perform compositions by Bach, Mendelssohn, and his instructor, Randolph Currie.

The event is free and open to the public. A reception follows the recital.

"I am really excited about the recital," Taylor said in a phone interview Thursday. "Practicing for it has been a lot of work, but it's all been worth it."

He is the second of four sons of Thomas and Lynette Taylor and attends Harvest Fellowship Church, rural Hamler. He began taking organ lessons in second grade from Marilyn Richard.

"We had an old organ in our home and I played it a few times before I started lessons," he said. "I enjoyed playing it right away and that hasn't changed."

While in middle school, he received a scholarship from the Toledo Chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO). It was through AGO that he met Currie, his organ teacher for the past five years.

"I never really liked the new electronic organs," he said. "Playing the traditional pipe organ and traditional pipe organ music has always been my focus."

Taylor, who practices at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Deshler, performed his first full organ recital two summers ago. He has also played for numerous church services, Patrick Henry High School graduations and several weddings.

"I take lessons every week in the summer and every two weeks during the school year," he stated. "My family has been very supportive ever since I started. I couldn't have done this without them."

Most recently, Taylor passed the Service Playing Certificate Test, a prestigious organ playing test conducted by AGO's national organization. This accomplishment involved performing organ works by renowned composers, hymns and choir accompaniments, transposing and sight reading.

Taylor is involved in numerous school activities at PHHS. He runs cross country and track, plays trumpet in the band and has participated in the District I Honors Band. In addition, he is a member of the National Honor Society and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, attends a local high school Bible study group and plays the piano.

He has already visited several college campuses, including Wheaton College in Illinois, Valparaiso University in Indiana, Calvin College in Michigan and Carson-Newman University and Union College in Tennessee.

"I'll probably major in some type of music field, possibly pipe organ performance," said Taylor. "In the meantime, I am looking forward to my senior year."

St. Joseph Catholic Church is located at 5373 Main St. in Sylvania.