The St. Thomas Hollywood AIDS Memorial Organ

Dedicated to the glory and worship of God and to the enrichment of all who enter these walls, the St. Thomas AIDS Memorial Organ is one of southern California’s largest and most distinguished performance instruments. It is comprised of 4,558 individual pipes (85 ranks) configured in the style known as American Classic, which combines a variety of tonal styles (German baroque, French classic, and English tradition) with unique American qualities.

 The core of the organ is the historic Opus #46, built by the Los Angeles Art Organ Company in 1904 for Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Los Angeles. It was acquired by Church of the Open Door (also in downtown) around 1915 and operated until Church of the Open Door moved in 1985. It was scheduled for demolition in 1988 when organ builder Weston Harris rescued it for St. Thomas.

 With Opus #46 at its core, carefully selected vintage sets of pipes (including some from the original 1929 St. Thomas organ) were added to complete the comprehensive tonal design. The pipes came from a variety of historical sources: Harvard and Stanford Universities; St. James, Madison Avenue; St. Stephen’s, Hollywood; St. Athanasius, Echo Park; St. Monica’s, Santa Monica; Church of the Good Shepherd, Beverly Hills; South Pasadena High School; Salt Lake City; Claremont Colleges; and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York. The oldest sets of pipes (the French Vox Humana and the German Doppelflute) date to the late 1800s.

 The organ was first completed in 1990. In 1994 cathedral chimes and a harp were added, and a major project to complete the organ’s full design took place from 2014 to 2021.