Grammy Winners Christine Brewer & Paul Jacobs to Perform at Walt Disney Concert Hall, 1/24

The Los Angeles Philharmonic's 2015/16 organ recital series continues with internationally celebrated soprano Christine Brewer and "America's leading organ performer" (The Economist) Paul Jacobs. The two Grammy Award-winning musicians join forces for a rare voice and organ recital at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Sunday evening, January 24, at 7:30 PM, in a program of vocal music as well as solo organ works by composers ranging from Bach and Handel to Puccini, Reger, and Nadia and Lili Boulanger. Much of the concert's repertoire can also be heard on the duo's recently released album, Divine Redeemer.

The first and only organist ever to have won a Grammy Award (in 2011 for Messiaen's towering "Livre du Saint-Sacrement"), Paul Jacobs combines a probing intellect and extraordinary technical skills with a vast repertoire of music written for his instrument, both old and new. He has transfixed audiences, colleagues, and critics with landmark performances of the complete works for solo organ by J.S. Bach and by Messiaen. A fierce advocate of new music, he has premiered works by Samuel Adler, Mason Bates, Michael Daugherty, Wayne Oquin, Stephen Paulus, and Christopher Theofanidis, among others. Recent performances spurred The New Yorker's Alex Ross to deem Jacobs "one of the major musicians of our time," and Anne Midgette of The Washington Post to hail, "Paul Jacobs is one of the great living virtuosos." An eloquent champion of his instrument, arguing that the organ for too long has been excluded from the mainstream of classical music, Jacobs is known for his imaginative interpretations and charismatic stage presence. He has also been an important influence in the revival of symphonic music featuring the organ.

Grammy Award-winning American soprano Christine Brewer's appearances in opera, concert, and recital are marked by her own unique timbre, at once warm and brilliant, combined with a vibrant personality and emotional honesty reminiscent of the great sopranos of the past. Named one of the top 20 sopranos of all time (BBC Music), her range, golden tone, boundless power, and control make her a favorite of the stage and a highly sought-after recording artist, one who is "in her prime and sounding glorious" (Anthony Tommasini, New York Times).

Inaugurated in 2004 at the opening of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's second season in Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Walt Disney Concert Hall organ's striking visual design was a collaboration between Frank Gehry and organ builder Manuel Rosales. The organ is voiced with a wide dynamic range - from pianississimo to a breathtaking fortissimo that can obliterate the sounds of a full orchestra. The specially curved wood façade pipes are actual playing pipes that were made by Glatter-Götz Orgelbau in Germany and consist of the Violone and Bassoon basses. Behind the façade are three levels of pipes, including metal pipes made of tin and lead alloys and wood pipes made of Norwegian pine. The organ, affectionately called "Hurricane Mama," was so named by musical visionary Terry Riley after a night of improvising.

An Upbeat Live pre-concert event takes place in Walt Disney Concert Hall's BP Hall one hour before the concert, and is free to all ticket holders. Organist Christoph Bull hosts.

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