The only organist ever to have won a GRAMMY Award (for Messiaen’s “Livre du Saint-Sacrement”), Paul Jacobs had been hailed as “one of the major musicians of our time” by the New Yorker’s Alex Ross. Paul Jacobs made his mark from a young age with landmark performances of the complete works for solo organ by J.S. Bach and Messiaen, making musical history in 2000 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.

He joined the faculty of The Juilliard School in 2003, and was named chairman of the organ department in 2004, one of the youngest faculty appointees in the school’s history. He received Juilliard’s prestigious William Schuman Scholar’s Chair in 2007 and an honorary Doctor of Music from Washington and Jefferson College in 2017. He is also Director of the Organ Institute at the Oregon Bach Festival.

Mr. Jacobs has been an important influence in the revival of symphonic works featuring the organ and is a true innovator in the advocacy of organ repertoire, performing and encouraging the composition of new works that feature the organ.