In 2013, the Hazel Wright organ, also known as “Hazel” to her admirers, was taken from Christ Cathedral’s sanctuary in Southern California’s Orange County and moved to Italy for repairs. The fifth-largest pipe organ was infested by bugs at the time. Its pipes had melted and its trumpets were corroded.
Hazel is back nearly a decade later and almost $3 million later. Her pipes still ring in the vaulted nave.
“It was incredible to see people’s reactions,” David La’O Ball, a Juilliard-trained ornist and head music ministry at Christ Cathedral, said. Hazel was first played to the public during Mass on World Marriage Day. Their eyes widening, their heads turned from side to side in order to hear the sounds coming from. Every note is so powerful that you can feel it.
Ball stated that the organ was “large, but also very intimate.”
The Hazel Wright organ is named after its original donor. It was first heard by millions of people worldwide in the days of the Crystal Cathedral, which was founded by the Rev. Televangelist. Robert H. Schuller was the host of the weekly Christian TV program “Hour of Power.” The Garden Grove Church is a landmark in the area and a tourist attraction. Its majestic spire can be seen from many of the county’s freeways.
Crystal Cathedral Ministries filed for bankruptcy in 2011. The organ and the building were later acquired by the Roman Catholic Diocese in Orange in 2011. This was followed by a $72million renovation of the sanctuary, which was completed in 2019.
The Very Rev. stated that the restoration of the organ was a priority regardless of its cost. Christopher Smith, Christ Cathedral’s rector. Although $3 million might seem high, Smith said that it would be five times as expensive to build a new organ with the same scope.
Smith stated that the iconic instrument has a rich history and heritage. It is also an ancient craft and it was important to bring it into the 21st century. The pipe organ to me is like a church, where many people gather in harmony. It’s also similar to the organ’s beautiful music: many sounds are combined in one organ.
The organ was built in the late 1970s by master organist Virgil Fox, and dedicated in 1982. Fratelli Ruffatti, or the Ruffatti brothers, are multigenerational Padua-based specialists who grafted an Aeolian Skinner organ from New York City’s Philharmonic Hall to one made by Fratelli Ruffatti. This created the Hazel Wright organ.
Its rehabilitation was difficult.
When it was time to repair, it returned to the Ruffattis Padua factory. After extensive work, the pieces were shipped back to Orange County where they sat in a temperature-controlled storage facility for four years as the cathedral was renovated. Piero Ruffatti who built Hazel originally returned to the cathedral in late 2019.
However, the coronavirus pandemic that struck Italy early on cut off Ruffatti’s time. Ruffatti stopped working on the project, and took the last flight from Los Angeles to home on March 17, 2020. After travel restrictions had eased, Ruffatti finally returned to work in November 2021 and completed the job in January.
Ruffatti, speaking from Italy, said that it was an incredible experience to build this organ twice. “I have never done anything like it before.”
Original organ had 270 ranks (or sets of pipes) that ranged in length from 4 to 32 feet. It also featured five keyboards and the largest draw-knob console to control the sound.
It currently has 17,000 pipes in 293 ranks. According to Ball, it is the largest pipe organ found in a Roman Catholic cathedral in Western Hemisphere.
Ruffatti stated that the organ’s acoustical environment is now better because of the renovation of the sanctuary.
Ruffatti stated that the organ helps to blend sound together and has more reverberation. “This organ can produce so many different sounds. Even the most experienced organists may not be able to fully grasp all of the possibilities. It can take many months.
Frederick Swann, who played almost every Sunday at Crystal Cathedral between 1982 and 1998, was a consultant to the project. He agreed that the organ sounds better in the renovated structure.
Swann, 90 years old, recalled a memorable experience — playing the organ while a tiger cub sat on the console. This was one of the animals that featured in Crystal Cathedral’s “Glory of Christmas” pageant. He is delighted to see Hazel well and happy.
“This organ is unique. It is larger than a standard church organ and has more range and color. Swann stated that it can sound anything from whispery to loud. “This instrument is well-known all over the globe, so I was relieved to see it in action again.”
However, fine-tuning this delicate instrument is an ongoing process and won’t be completed for a few months. Kevin Cartwright, president at Rosales Organ Builders in Los Angeles, stated that the instrument will need to be maintained at a cost of $75,000 per year. He must climb ladders up to this height.
Cartwright stated that the organ must be tuned to the building. “Each pipe should be tuned individually.”
Since 2009, Hazel has her own Facebook page: The Hazel Wright Organ Society. It now has just over 2,400 members.
Trisha Longo, a fan and founder of the page, said, “To be an inanimate thing and have that kind of following is incredible, especially for an archaic organ like the pipe organ.” It has a magical appeal.”
Matt Morrison, another founder of the organization, was a California schoolteacher and organist who sang as a teenager in the “Hour of Power Choir.” He said that worshipping God is timeless and that the music of the church transcends millennia.
“Hazel can be used to liturgy just like she can accompany a band. Morrison stated that the organ’s versatility is amazing. It’s more than one type of music, in fact.
