In its heyday the Hazel Wright pipe organ was heard by millions worldwide through the “Hour of Power” Christian TV program, broadcast from Southern California's iconic Crystal Cathedral.
David La'O Ball, organist and head of music ministry at Christ Cathedral, stands by the Hazel Wright organ in Garden Grove, Calif., Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. Nearly a decade and $3 million later, Hazel is back in the shimmering sanctuary and heavenly chords from her pipes are once again ringing out in its vaulted nave. – There are few pipe organs in the world that have a nickname, a feminine pronoun and a Facebook fan page.
“It was amazing to see people’s reactions to this powerful instrument,” said David La’O Ball, a Juilliard-trained organist and head of music ministry at Christ Cathedral, where Hazel was played for the public for the first time this month during a Mass on World Marriage Day. “Their eyes widened, and they were turning their heads from side to side to see where these sounds were coming from. You can really feel its visceral power with every note.
The organ was crafted in the late 1970s under the supervision of master organist Virgil Fox and dedicated in 1982. The Fratelli Ruffatti — or Ruffatti brothers — a multigenerational company of specialists in Padua, Italy, grafted an Aeolian-Skinner organ purchased from New York City’s Philharmonic Hall with one made by Fratelli Ruffatti in 1977, to create the Hazel Wright organ.It went back to the Ruffattis' Padua factory in 2013 when it was time for the repairs.
In its current iteration, it has some 17,000 pipes in 293 ranks and, according to Ball, is the largest pipe organ in a Roman Catholic cathedral in the Western Hemisphere. Swann, 90, reminisced about one of his most memorable experiences — playing the organ with a tiger cub sitting on the console, one of the live animals featured in the Crystal Cathedral’s famed “Glory of Christmas” pageant. He’s delighted to see Hazel alive and well.