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The Hazel Wright Organ located in the former Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California – scheduled to be reconsecrated as the Roman Catholic "Christ Cathedral" in 2017 – is one of the world's largest pipe organs. As of 2008, it had 270 ranks and 16,061 pipes, fully playable from two 5-manual consoles.
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Funded by a $2 million gift from Hazel Wright, a viewer of the church's Hour of Power telecast, the organ was constructed by Fratelli Ruffatti, based on specifications by Virgil Fox and expanded by Frederick Swann. It incorporates the large Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ originally built in 1962 for New York's Avery Fisher Hall, and the Ruffatti organ which had been installed in the church's previous sanctuary in 1977.
Beginning in 1982, the year of the present organ's dedication, Frederick Swann was organist and music director at the cathedral. During his 16-year tenure (1982–1998), he was widely regarded as the most visible organist in the world as people in more than 165 countries worldwide saw and heard him playing this organ on the weekly Hour of Power televised episodes.
Following the Crystal Cathedral's final Hour of Power in June 2013, the organ was scheduled to be dismantled for a $2 million refurbishing, led by Fratelli Ruffatti, and then to be re-installed for the building's planned re-opening as Christ Cathedral. After three decades of use and exposure to heat, sunlight and water damage, the organ was in need of extensive repair. The organ was removed in February 2014 over the course of a week and shipped to Padua, Italy for restoration. Re-dedication of the instrument and the cathedral are expected for 2017.
Stoplist
The organ has the following pipe ranks:
Recordings
Frederick Swann has recorded two compact discs playing the Crystal Cathedral organ:
Peter Baicchi has recorded one CD:
In addition, the Crystal Cathedral Choir and organ are heard on the CD We Sing the Power.