THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE and Christ Cathedral music ministry are pleased to announce their 2025-2026 concert season, which includes a fundraiser for historic pipe organs of Assisi, the annual Christmas concert and a varied performer lineup showcasing the Hazel Wright Organ.
The season begins on Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. with “Celebrating Cathedrals from California to Assisi.” This will feature the 17,000-pipe Hazel Wright Organ and various performers as a fundraiser for the refurbishment of the historic pipe organs in Cattedrale di San Rufino, the cathedral in Assisi, Italy. The instruments there require cleaning in order to function and to allow the Schola Cantorum of the cathedral, as well as students of Perugia Music Conservatory, to perform.
Next comes music as part of the annual Noche Guadalupana celebration on Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. Visitors are invited to attend the Mass in Spanish celebrating Our Lady of Guadalupe with congregational Spanish Marian hymns and movements from the famed “Mass of the Americas” by California composer Frank La Rocca.
The annual “Christmas at the Cathedral: Lessons and Carols by Candlelight” returns on Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m. It will feature Scripture readings, audience singing and choral works by living composers, such as Whitacre’s “Lux Aurumque,” Wayne Oquin’s “O Magnum Mysterium” and Rutter’s “Candlelight Carol.” The Hazel Wright Organ and Cathedral Brass will lead the congregation in song and accompany the Diocesan Choir of Orange, the Cathedral Choirs and the Diocesan Children’s Choir.
In the spring, on April 21 at 7:30 p.m. the season continues with Benjamin Sheen, director of music at the Jesus College, University of Cambridge. Sheen is the 2013 winner of the Pierre S. du Pont first prize in the inaugural Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition and received the Jon Laukvik prize at the St. Albans International Organ Competition 2013. He is also the former organist at St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in New York and holds degrees from the University of Oxford and the Juilliard School. Sheen’s concert also marks the conclusion of a residency where he and world-renowned soprano soloist Molly Quinn will spend a week coaching the Organ and Choral Scholars on careers and skills in church music, including choral accompaniment and proper vocal production for both solo and choral singing.
The annual Christ Cathedral Organ and Choral Scholars concert will take center stage at 7:30 p.m. on May 20, 2026, in a showcase of young musical talents. Current scholars and alumni will perform, thanks to generous donations that help young musicians consider careers in sacred music. Scholars have gone on to study at the Juilliard School, McGill University in Montreal, Rice University in Houston and Yale.
The season ends at 7:30 p.m. on June 29, 2026, with David Enlow in concert on the Hazel Wright Organ — an evening presented in part thanks to a generous donation from Lucy Dunn in honor of Dr. Robert Cummings, who served more than 60 years as a composer, organist and teacher in the Diocese of Orange. Enlow is music director of Park Avenue Synagogue, organist and choir master of the Church of the Resurrection, and assistant conductor, organist and répétiteur to the Clarion Music Society. Enlow’s program will feature an improvisation in honor of Dr. Cummings.
During his residency period, Enlow will also spend a week coaching the Organ Scholars on the art of improvisation.
All concerts take place in Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove and are free. For more information, visit www.christcathedralmusic.org or call (714) 620-7912.