Paul Jacobs has been lighting up the pipes — organ pipes, that is — since a 3,500-member parish in his hometown of Washington, Penn., welcomed him as head organist when he was just 15 years old. The keyboard prodigy went on to receive degrees from the Curtis Institute, Juilliard and Yale, and is currently the youngest chair in the history of Juilliard's organ department. Jacobs made musical history when he played an 18-hour marathon performance of the complete organ works of J.S. Bach on the 250th anniversary of the composer's death. Apparently he was just warming up. He has since performed the complete organ works of Olivier Messiaen in marathons throughout North America, and his recording Messiaen's Livre du Saint Sacrement, released by Naxos in September 2010, won the Best Solo Instrumental Grammy of the Year — the first disc of solo organ music to receive the honor. The organ phenom comes to UCLA this week with a wide-ranging program that includes selections from Livre du Saint Sacrement, as well as works by John Weaver, Florence Price, Nadia Boulanger, Jeanne Demessieux and Edward Elgar.

Thu., Jan. 12, 8 p.m., 2012

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