AS THE HEAD OF THE Music Ministry for the Diocese of Orange and principal organist at Christ Cathedral, David Ball’s goals are as lofty as the soaring notes from the famed Hazel Wright organ.
“My hope is anytime anyone comes, that they can experience, honestly, a transcendent experience from the music that hopefully will spiritually enrich them,” he said.
DAVID BALL POSES WITH THE 2025 ORGAN AND CHORAL SCHOLARS FOLLOWING A SPECIAL PERFORMANCE AT CHRIST CATHEDRAL ON MAY 21. PHOTO BY YUAN WANG/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
Ball, who came to Orange County in 2016 as a newly minted graduate of The Juilliard School, has since helped continue and transform the diocese into a hub of sacred music, not only regionally but internationally.
Ball said Christ Cathedral is uniquely positioned to build its reputation as a center for sacred music.
For decades before the ministry of Dr. Robert Schuller collapsed, the music of the then-Crystal Cathedral with Frederick Swann at the organ was internationally renowned through the “Hour of Power,” the most-watched weekly religious program in the United States.
A big part of that was the massive organ, built in 1982 and the fifth largest in the world.
CATHEDRAL MUSIC ADMINISTRATOR LAUREN MCCAUL TENDS TO STUDENTS DURING THE CATHEDRAL CHOIR CAMP HELD IN JULY 2022. PHOTO BY KIERNAN COLIFLORES/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
These days, under the auspices of the Catholic Church, music is back in a big way at the cathedral. Artists and scholars, not to mention tourists and music aficionados from across the globe, visit the Christ Cathedral campus to learn, listen, teach and take a pass on the keys of the grand organ.
With the fully refurbished and restored Hazel Wright as well as several other ultra-high-end organs at his disposal Ball is working to create a vibrant musical culture at the Cathedral. How important is the organ collection at Christ Cathedral? The diocese not only has an associate organist, Emma Whitten, but six more “sub-organists” and even an organ curator.
MUSICALLY IMPORTANT
The Music Ministry’s annual concert season is a popular sacred music series.
Last year, the season included “Bach-a-thon,” a continuous 19-hour presentation of the complete pipe organ catalogue of Johann Sebastian Bach with 40 organists from across the country visiting to collaborate.
MUSICIANS POSE FOR A PHOTO DURING THE 2025 BACH-A-THON HELD AT CHRIST CATHEDRAL. PHOTO BY IAN TRAN/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
In 2023, the diocese commemorated the restoration of the organ with a concert featuring Paul Jacobs, the first organist to win a Grammy for performance on organ, accompanied by the Pacific Symphony and Chorale.
Jacobs taught Ball at Juilliard, and his protégé says it was an amazing honor “to have a master like that call and say, ‘I want to make permanent music here.’”
This year, Ball is upping the ante. Benjamin Sheen, noted British concert organist, conductor and Director of Music at Jesus College Cambridge, will be visiting.
In addition to playing, Sheen volunteered to spend a week holding workshops on campus.
David Enlow, another luminary in organ music, will be here to play and to talk about “the art of improvisation” on the organ.
Ball said having both not just to perform, but share their talents and insights, underscores a second prong of his musical goals. That is for Christ Cathedral to be not only a performance center, but an incubator for future talent.
Christ Cathedral’s Organ Scholars and Choral Scholars programs were launched in 2019 just before the onset of the pandemic.
Last year, the diocesan concert season concluded by showcasing a class of seven of Christ Cathedral’s Organ Scholars and Choral Scholars.
With the programs, Ball said it’s no exaggeration to say “the future of sacred music is at Christ Cathedral.”
In July, the diocese concluded its summer Diocesan Summer Choir and Organ camps. To Ball’s amazement, 50 children signed up for the organ program.
DAVID BALL LEADS THE DIOCESAN CHILDREN’S CHOIR SUMMER CAMPERS AS THEY PERFORM DURING MASS AT CHRIST CATHEDRAL ON AUG. 2, 2024. PHOTO BY THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE
ROCKY ROAD
As positive as the upward arc is, it has been anything but straight.
In 2016, Ball, who grew up in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, was hired by then-Head of Music, John Romeri, to join the staff in Orange County. He knew Ball from St. Louis and brought the 24- year-old onboard.
Ball began his musical journey in fourth grade, singing during Masses, catechisms and ordinations. “I started playing the organ at 14 when my voice dropped,” he joked.
The partnership in Orange County with Romeri flourished until the pandemic struck and Romeri was laid off.
“During the pandemic, the whole world fell apart,” Ball said.
However, Ball stayed on with a stripped-down department.
“We were celebrating Masses on the plaza with just an organ and a cantor to sing,” Ball said. “It was a whole different world, but we still made great live sacred music.”
Ball kept the Music Scholars programs alive by teaching students online.
Since returning from the pandemic, scholars have flourished.
Graduates have gone on to study at Juilliard, Yale, Rice and McGill University in Montreal, some of the foremost organ and sacred music programs in North America, as well as play and work at other diocesan seats.
Organs are not Ball’s only interest. He also works closely with Cathedral Music Administrator Lauren McCaul and the Cathedral and diocesan choirs. The volunteer choir recently recorded Spem in alium, a choral piece in 40 parts known by some as the Mt. Everest of Choral music.
“Some regular people climbed Mt. Everest Ball joked. “To come together and do that at such a high level is stunning.”
As Ball looks to the future, he plans to continue to build the music ministry and explore musical possibilities.
Sitting outside on the cathedral’s plaza enjoying the sunshine and the soft serenity of a recent summer morning, Ball said he has a hard time imagining being anywhere else.
“This place has enough to inspire me for decades,” he said.