sounds from the sanctuary

SOUNDS FROM THE SANCTUARY: CHANGING SEASONS – FALL CHORAL MUSIC

Changing Seasons – Fall Choral Music

In today’s episode of Sounds From the Sanctuary, Cathedral Organist David Ball brings us into his role as Director of many of the Christ Cathedral’s choirs – open to volunteer singers of all ages and even young singers in grade school who want to learn to sing! With the Fall schedule of choral pieces as a guide, David introduces us to many of the classic pieces in the sacred choral repertoire that the choirs will be singing for liturgies this season at Christ Cathedral – a diverse selection from the Sacred Music repertoire spanning from Palestrina who wrote for the Sistine Chapel hundreds of years ago to a special piece John Rutter composed this past century for his alma mater, Clare College, Cambridge. Meditate with these gorgeous selections and consider singing with us at Christ Cathedral!

More info available at ChristCathedralMusic.org

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EPISODE #33
SOUNDS FROM THE SANCTUARY: CHRISTMAS AT THE CATHEDRAL 2022 (PT 1)

Episode No. 33: Christmas at the Cathedral 2022 – Pt 1

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! Enjoy this two-part show featuring excerpts from Christmas at the Cathedral 2022 – the very first Christmas music in Christ Cathedral to include the newly restored Hazel Wright Organ! Highlights from the first half include appearances by the Diocesan Children’s Choir, and an extra special performance on the Hazel Wright Organ by Fr. Christopher Smith, Rector-Emeritus of Christ Cathedral who plays some of his favorite Christmas Carols on the mighty organ! Also of note is David Willcocks’s famous setting of Hark! the Herald Angels Sing featuring a rarely heard Brass OCTET (for EIGHT Players instead of the normal five) setting of its well-known brass fanfare introduction.

Originally broadcast on 12/31/22

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EPISODE #27
SOUNDS FROM THE SANCTUARY: KEVIN CARTWRIGHT, CURATOR FOR THE HAZEL WRIGHT ORGAN

Episode No. 27: A visit with Kevin Cartwright, Curator for the Hazel Wright Organ

In this episode of Sounds from the Sanctuary, get to know Kevin Cartwright, the hardworking Curator for the famed Hazel Wright Organ. Mr. Cartwright, freshly out of breath from finishing tuning all 17,000+ pipes of Hazel, the 5th-largest organ in the world, tells us his story. He talks about his beginnings in Southern Alabama; and, working with the famed Manuel Rosales on some incredible organs. He currently oversees the day to day maintenance of Christ Cathedral’s world-famous instrument, along with other projects including preserving the historic Griffith Park Carousel in Los Angeles.

Originally broadcast on 6/11/22

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EPISODE#71
CATHEDRAL SQUARE: CHRIST CATHEDRAL PARISH MUSIC

Welcome to another episode of Cathedral Square featuring host, Fr. Christopher Smith.

On today’s episode, Fr. Christopher welcomes the virtual “power team” of all things music at Christ Cathedral. His guests include David Ball (Organist and Head of Music) and Lauren McCall (Music Administrator). They discuss everything from the joys of the recently celebrated Easter Masses to the challenges of maintaining the music ministry during a time of pandemic. You will also be treated to a sneak preview of some exciting upcoming events related to the newly renovated Hazel Wright Organ! Be sure to share with a friend!

Originally broadcast on 4/30/22

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EPISODE #20
SOUNDS FROM THE SANCTUARY: THE CHURCH MUSIC OF AUTUMN

Episode No. 20: The Church Music of Autumn

Fall is a beautiful season – the beginning of the academic and choral year, the changing of the leaves, the cooling of the weather. In the church, there are many important liturgical moments that are celebrated in October, and in today’s episode we listen to some of the gorgeous music that accompanies these liturgies including the Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi, the White Mass for the medical profession, and the Red Mass calling on the Holy Spirit upon our lawmakers.

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EPISODE #17
SOUNDS FROM THE SANCTUARY: GUEST IS REBECCA EHREN, YALE ORGAN STUDENT

Episode No. 17: Rebecca Ehren, Yale Organ Student

The American Guild of Organists has declared this year as the “Year of the Young Organist”. Every musician has their own story of finding music and discovering their artistic and career path. In this episode, hear the ongoing story of one young organist, Rebecca Ehren, 29 (the same age as our host, David Ball) – from her beginnings in Canada, her academic degrees, and lately to her studies at the famed Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music.

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EPISODE #14
SOUNDS FROM THE SANCTUARY: A CHORAL SCHOLAR’S COVID EASTER

Episode No. 14: A Choral Scholar’s Covid Easter

In the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Triduum and Easter services at Christ Cathedral signaled hope for the future with the brief return of choral music from a small but mighty Cathedral Schola of seven singers. Each of them were spaced over 25 feet apart in the choir loft conducted by our Host, David Ball, Cathedral Organist and Acting Head of Music Ministry. For experienced church musicians like David and one of today’s guests Lauren McCaul, Cathedral Music Administrator and Soprano in the Schola, this year’s Easter services are memorable in their uniqueness – singing in a very small “choir” spread so far apart it was impossible to hear the next singer, a congregation of restricted numbers for safety reasons, and this year being the second consecutive year of Easter services complicated by the pandemic. Join us today as we compare the experience of David and Lauren with that of young Alyce Reynaud, Cathedral Choral Scholar and high school senior, who for the first time was invited to join the all-professional schola this Easter and, in spite of all the difficulties of these trying times, held her own singing some of the most complicated and well-known choral anthems of the Church’s Holiest days including the high C’s in the revered Miserere Mei by Gregorio Allegri, the thundering Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and a new setting of one of the oldest Easter tunes in Christendom, O Filii et Filiae (aka Ye Sons and Daughters) by Benjamin LaPrairie, Organist at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C.

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EPISODE #12
SOUNDS FROM THE SANCTUARY: AMPLIFY FEMALE COMPOSERS

Episode No. 12: Amplify Female Composers

In the midst of the COVID pandemic, acclaimed organists and church musicians Janet Yieh and Carolyn Craig collaborated in founding AMPLIFY Female Composers – a project dedicated to promoting music written by female composers. As a preview for their spring 2021 offering – a virtual Stations of the Cross featuring organists playing solemn meditations – Janet and Carolyn join host David Ball to introduce our listeners to this important project. They’ll be highlighting some beautiful tracks both from their 2020 Virtual Advent Calendar; and, the upcoming Stations of the Cross. These are featuring performances by church musicians and choirs across the United States, England, and even here in California {from both San Diego native Chelsea Chen and Cathedral Organist David Ball on the mighty Walker organ of Christ Cathedral}.

Find out more about 2021’s Stations of the Cross and many more resources about female composers for music listeners and church musicians at: https://www.amplifyfemalecomposers.org/

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EPISODE #10
SOUNDS FROM THE SANCTUARY: VOICES IN A QUIET CATHEDRAL

Episode No. 10: Alan Terricciano, UCI Composer and Dance Professor (Part 2)

Inspired by Instagram photos of Christ Cathedral, hauntingly beautiful, emptied because of the pandemic, Alan Terricciano (featured in Episode 9) composed Voices in a Quiet Cathedral for solo organ. With Alan as our guide, words from the

mind of the composer himself accompany our journey through this new work hearing the background story behind each moment of this stunningly serene music performed by our host David Ball on the gorgeous Walker Technical Organ at

Christ Cathedral. Also featuring Enceladus recorded in the legendary, spatial acoustic of St. Paul the Apostle Church, Lincoln Center, NYC.

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EPISODE #9
SOUNDS FROM THE SANCTUARY: GUEST IS ALAN TERRICCIANO, UCI COMPOSER AND DANCE PROFESSOR

Episode No. 9: Alan Terricciano, UCI Composer and Dance Professor

Every music lover wishes they could go back in time and ask the great composers like Bach, Mozart, or Beethoven what inspired their music and the stories behind every piece. Today, we are lucky enough to ask exactly those questions of a

living composer, Alan Terricciano, Composer and Professor of Dance at University of California – Irvine. Listen to the composer himself not only introduce and describe his own music, but also improvise music off-the-cuff at the piano.

Discover the vast, emotional gamut of local composer Alan Terricciano’s music – from the playfulness of a hoedown for solo violin, to the spontaneous music improvised at a piano, and finally to the passionate work Ash in remembrance of

the events of 9/11 that brought the world together.

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