After I attended a morning workshop session on service improvisation, the entire convention boarded buses to the site of the former Crystal Cathedral, renamed Christ Cathedral after the purchase of the buildings and grounds by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County. The renovation cost $77 million.
John Romeri, director of music since 2015 (and my classmate from Westminster Choir College days) introduced us to the rector of the Cathedral who gave us a “tour” of the renovations. The differences in the building between my last visit and now are striking—the building is cool, contemporary and inviting. A portion of the cathedral’s website is devoted to the renovation project.
By far the biggest difference is the addition of more than 11,000 “quatrefoils,”— four sided open squares which have been installed over the former glass panels that let in light but keep the building much cooler.
Twelve masses in four languages (English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Korean) are held every weekend in the Arboretum until the main church is finished, a year from now.
The Hazel Wright Organ is awaiting voicing and tuning, and there is a Walker digital instrument for the interim. David Ball, the Cathedral organist and recent Juilliard graduate, demonstrated the spatial acoustics of the room by playing a short sample on the Walker. I was really surprised at how reverberant music is in this room.
Hazel Wright console
We then moved to the Arboretum where David Ball played a recital of Max Reger, Jeanne Demessieux, Alan Terricciano and Hans Zimmer.
By far my favorite piece was “No Time for Caution” (from Interstellar) by Hans Zimmer for piano, organ, and percussion, arranged by Alan Terricciano.
Lunch followed during which we heard a concert on the 52 bell carillon then we went back to the Arboretum for a masterclass with Tom Mueller, Associate Professor from Concordia University, Irvine.
All three students were very fine and judging by these three, the future of organ playing is bright. I was really wowed by the first student, Ethan Chow, who played from memory and is only a sophomore in high school but already an Organ Scholar at Christ Cathedral. He will certainly be one to watch!
A short but brilliant recital by Ethan Haman (b. 1997) followed the masterclass. Two of the works he played were his own compositions; he opened with “Postlude on Pentecost Themes (2016)” which I enjoyed very much. Ethan is a recent graduate of USC where he studied organ with Cherry Rhodes and composition with Donald Crockett. He will next go to Yale to enter the Master of Music program. He is a stunning, virtuosic player and will certainly be one to watch!
