Music

Christ Cathedral’s Music Ministry serves the vast and diverse Cathedral Parish and the Diocese of Orange, the 8th-largest diocese in the United States. The Cathedral campus boasts some of the world’s largest and most famous instruments including the Fred Swann Organ in the Arboretum, the 52-bell Carillon atop the Crean Tower, and the Hazel Wright Organ in the Cathedral nave. Staff musicians currently include David Ball, Cathedral Organist and Acting Head of Music Ministry; and Lauren McCaul, Cathedral Music Administrator.

Music has always been an integral part of the Christ Cathedral Campus, and many notable musicians have held positions on the staff, including Dr. John A. Romeri, the first Director of Music and Organist for the newly-dedicated Christ Cathedral; Dr. Frederick Swann, the famed organist for many years of the Hour of Power and the Crystal Cathedral; Mark Thallander, Richard Unfried, Tom Leonard, Christopher Pardini, Janet Thorsen, and Don Neuen. A history of the organs and music programs of the campus is currently being compiled into a book written by Dr. David Crean that will be released when the Hazel Wright Organ is rededicated.

The Fred Swann Organ in the Arboretum is a 1951, 4-manual, 82-rank Aeolian-Skinner Pipe Organ installed in 1996 and consists of 4,949 pipes and 6 Walker digital stops. 

The Hazel Wright Organ, built by the famed Fratelli Ruffatti Pipe Organ Builders of Padova, Italy, currently under renovation, is the 6th-largest instrument in the world consisting of 293 ranks with 17,106 pipes.

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