CHRIST CATHEDRAL’S FIRST ever Bach-a-thon was a 19- hour celebration of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, featuring 200 works performed by 40 organists on the cathedral’s iconic Hazel Wright Organ.
Organized by David Ball, head of the music ministry at Christ Cathedral and himself an accomplished organist, the marathon session was held from 6 a.m. March 3 to 1 a.m. March 4, with hundreds of listeners filtering in and out the cathedral throughout the session.
The Bach-a-thon featured performances from some of Southern California’s most notable organists, Ball said.
The bringing together of organists to play Bach’s music has a long history, but hadn’t taken place at Christ Cathedral before, said Ball, who is a Juilliard-trained organist himself.
“I thought what a beautiful thing it was to bring everyone together around the music we love,” Ball said. “I wanted to invite the top-notch organists to all play and why not do it all together in one giant day. It brings people to the organ, it brings people to the Catholic Church, it brings people into this sacred space.”
A highlight of the Bach-a-thon was the performance of the Diocesan Choir, and Children’s Choir, which are made up of singers from parishes throughout the Diocese of Orange.
Ball also expressed gratitude for Bishop Kevin Vann for supporting the Bach-a-thon.
“It’s because of the generosity and dedication to music by Bishop Vann, who’s an organist himself,” Ball said. “The performance also reflects Christ Cathedral’s commitment to preserving its musical heritage and providing a space for sacred music.”
The event also featured the return to the cathedral of organists who performed when it was the Crystal Cathedral.
Among them was Among them was Philip Hoch, former “Hour of Power” organist and the last student of the late Fred Swann, who presented solo works of Bach as part of Bach-a-thon.
Christ Cathedral’s current organ scholars and alumni from the scholar program performed, as did members of the Long Beach and Orange County Chapters of the American Guild of Organists.
Michael Barone, the producer of the radio program “Pipedreams” and an expert on Bach’s body of work, served as commentator for Bach-a-thon alongside Roger Sherman, host of “The Organ Loft”.
Bach is probably the most significant composer of Western classical music, Barone said.
“He wrote a lot for instruments, for choirs, but particularly for the organ because he as a youngster was, shall we say, inspired,” Barone said. “He could do things with his hands and feet that other organists had not thought of doing. And even as a teenager, he was starting to raise eyebrows,” Barone said of the composer’s early genius.