Walt Disney Concert Hall   The organ at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles is Rosales Opus 24 and is a joint project with Glatter-Götz Orgelbau of Owingen, Germany. The unique facade, a design collaboration between Manuel Rosales and Disney Hall architect Frank O. Gehry, has become an icon of modern concert hall organ design. The 2007-08 schedule of events for this organ includes recitals by Thomas Trotter, Anthony Newman, Olivier Latry, and Terry Riley, a Halloween silent film with Clark Wilson, and a Holiday Spectacular with David Higgs, as well as the Saint-Saëns "Organ" Symphony with Charles Dutoit conducting. Click for more on this organ, including the stoplist, photos, and a full concert schedule. There is also a fascinating graphic illustration, "Inside the Disney Hall Organ."

Hear the 2004 Inaugural Recital on this organ by Frederick Swann on Pipedreams broadcasts in the latter half of May 2008. Also available online in Pipedreams archives as Program #0820 beginning May 27.

Opus 11: Trinity Cathedral, Portland OR - 20th Anniversary

The year 2007 marks the 20th anniversary of Rosales Opus 11 at Trinity Cathedral in Portland, Oregon. The event was observed by a recital featuring John Scott on October 29. Jonathan Ambrosino writes of this instrument:

It has been now eighteen years since I first saw that organ. I still have my handwritten notes and impressions from that visit (three years before my first laptop!). It was David Junchen who urged me to see it most of all, and Grahame Davis ... and seemingly countless others. Sometimes it's difficult to think back to those far more unyielding times, when its fusing of the supposedly unfusable reflected the culture as much as the instrument itself. It was a clear watershed, amplified by so many people understanding that very fact right from the start.

See more about this landmark organ, including John Scott's recital program.

Opus 32: First Lutheran Church of Venice CA

A new page has been added to this website for the organ at First Lutheran Church of Venice, California. The instrument was a collaboration with Parsons Organ Builders. Click for more information.

David Britton Memorial Website

A website in memory of Dr. David Britton (1942-1992), concert organist and recording artist, has been established by Manuel Rosales. Anyone with material to contribute for the site may contact Manuel by email. Visit the site at DavidBritton.info.

Opus 37: St. Edmund's, San Marino CA

We are honored to have been chosen to rebuild the historic Aeolian-Skinner organ at St. Edmund's Episcopal Church in San Marino, California, in the San Gabriel Valley near Los Angeles. The 31-rank instrument was designed by Joseph Whiteford, who was then President and Tonal Director of the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company of Boston. It is the firm's Opus 1323 and was dedicated with a recital by Irene Robertson on April 13, 1958.

The project will include:

• Complete releathering

• Addition of 10 ranks including Pedal Open Wood 16’, Trombone 16', and Great Tromba 8’ on high pressure

• Revoicing and tonal improvement of the existing pipework

• New Swell and Choir shutters for better
  sound projection

• Console refurbishing and enhancement

The Rev. George F. Woodward III is Rector of St. Edmund's, and the Rev. Rob Fisher is Associate Rector. Robert Packer is Chair of the Organ Committee and Dr. Thomas Harmon is Project Advisor.

For more about this project and the organ, see the website of St. Edmund's Church.

Opus 33: St. Stephen's, Monona WI

The new Rosales Opus 33 at St. Stephen's Lutheran Church in Monona, Wisconsin, was played for the first time in services on Christmas Eve 2005. The dedication recital was played on David Schrader on June 2, 2006. This 29-stop organ with mechanical action is a collaboration with Parsons Organ Builders of Canandaigua, New York. Click for more on this organ, including the stoplist and photos.

Recent Publications

Murray M. Harris and Organ Building in Los Angeles, 1894-1913 was recently published by OHS Press. Based on research by the late David Lennox Smith, the book has been edited by Orpha Ochse with the collaboration of Manuel Rosales, Kevin Gilchrist, Jim Lewis, and Jack Bethards.  More

Also from OHS Press comes Litterai Organi: Essays in Honor of Barbara Owen, published in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Organ Historical Society. This volume includes an essay by Orpha Ochse entitled "Manuel Rosales and the Los Angeles Organ Renaissance."

Both of the above publications are available from the Organ Historical Society.