Heralded as “one of the finest organists and teachers of our day” by Zachary Woolfe of The New York Times, “one of the major musicians of our time” by Alex Ross of The New Yorker, and as “America’s leading organ performer” by The Economist, the internationally celebrated organist Paul Jacobs combines a probing intellect and extraordinary technical mastery with an unusually large repertoire, both old and new. He has performed to great critical acclaim on five continents and in each of the fifty states. The only organist ever to have won a Grammy Award—in 2011 for Messiaen’s towering Livre du Saint-Sacrément—Mr. Jacobs is an eloquent champion of his instrument both in the U.S. and abroad.

This concert marks the 50th anniversary of the Lawrence Phelps organ of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. Phelps designed the Casavant organ at CSU. The instruments are, in a way, sisters. CSU’s Casavant organ leans slightly German in tonal design, St. Luke’s leans slightly French. Together, they have been a central part of CSU’s organ program for decades.