The new LA Cathedral was designed by Rafael Moneo, the Spanish architect who also designed the Getty Center here in LA. Judge the design for yourself—to me it looks like he thought he was designing another museum instead of a church.

On April 30, 2003, Sakiko and I got the chance to attend one of the first concerts on the new organ at the new cathederal. This is a Dobson organ, with 4 manuals and 105 ranks. One unique thing about it is its height—85 feet, in order to fit into the dimensions of the cathedral.

At the console was Christoph Bull, a well-known local organist known for his great improvisations—one of which he graced us with at this concert as well. The program included Vierne, Alain, and Durufle—maybe Bull thinks this is a French romantic organ at heart? Bull is the organist who at a concert last year at First Congregational Church picked my suggestion for an improvisation theme—the Beatles’ “Michelle”.

More information about the LA Cathedral organ.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 12th, 2003 at 07:53 and is filed under history and culture, los angeles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.