About The Book:
This book was written for people who delight in the imaginative, who yearn to understand the creative spirit, who appreciate the craftsmanship that produces a work of art. The story of how a pipe organ is designed and constructed is intriguing to begin with; but, the visual impact of the Walt Disney Concert Hall organ excites the curiosity. Just looking at the towering wooden pipes is enough to make one wonder how it was ever conceived and built.

When I first saw photographs of this unique instrument, many questions came to mind: Who dreamed up this unorthodox design? Does it sound like a traditional pipe organ? How did they create something so complex? How many other pipes are hiding behind the ones in front? Then I heard it! It was magnificent. I had to know more about how this organ came to be. So, as a musician and an author, I pursued the facts – first to satisfy my own curiosity, but then to share it with others.

I wanted to describe this work of art through the eyes of those who created it and used it. So I went to the architect, Frank Gehry; to the tonal designer, Manuel Rosales; to the builder, Glatter-Götz Orgelbau. I talked with associates and assistants, and I probed the minds of artisans and musicians. The thoughts, the words, the insights of all these people provide the substance of this book. It was written to honor their contribution to the world of music.

About the CD included with the book:
A FOREST OF PIPES – The Tonal Tour

This CD was created to demonstrate the versatility of the Walt Disney Concert Hall pipe organ, both as a solo instrument, and with orchestra.

Narrator: Manuel J. Rosales, Tonal Designer and Curator
Organists: Philip Allen Smith – Conservator of the WDCH organ;  Jennifer Zobelein – Author;  David Goode – Eton College, UK; Cherry Rhodes – University of Southern California, with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, playing an excerpt from Concierto de Los Angeles by James Hopkins
Sound recording and editing: Pacific Audio-Visual Enterprises, Pasadena, California
Recording Engineers: Ron Streicher, Paul Pegas, and Wes Dooley
Editing and post-production: Ron Streicher 

About The Author:
With a background in writing, teaching and music, Jennifer Zobelein would like to inform people about the magnificence of the Walt Disney Concert Hall pipe organ. With its inauguration in the fall of 2004, it was an opportune time to write a book on this subject, describing the design, construction, installation and voicing of this unique instrument, created through the vision and skill of many different people. It is an intriguing story.

Born in England, raised in Canada, Jennifer moved to Los Angeles, as a high school student. In 1962, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA in English, with a minor in Music. After graduation, she worked for a few years as an assistant editor for Western Publishing Company in Beverly Hills and also as a free-lance writer. While with Western, she wrote over fifty educational text pages on subjects ranging from the space program to the animals and plants of Africa. Over the years, she also wrote advertising copy, political speeches, and newspaper articles. She has been a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators since 1973, with one non-fiction book to her credit – Great Dinosaurs, published by Hallmark.

Jennifer went back to school in 1978 for a teaching credential – Multiple Subjects K-12, and Single Subject English. She taught for fifteen years in elementary and secondary schools. The last eight years of her teaching career were in Simi Valley, California, as a Teacher in the Gifted and Talented Education special program. While her own children were in secondary school, she worked diligently as a band parent, making presentations to the city council and school board in Thousand Oaks which resulted in a grant of $100,000 for new band instruments! When her husband took over the family investment business in 1993, she resigned from teaching and worked with him as Office Manager and Secretary-Treasurer of the corporation. She is now retired and able to devote herself to writing projects once again. Since the early 1900′s, members of the Zobelein family have given their support to classical music in Los Angeles. Jennifer is happy to continue that tradition with this book.

Jennifer enjoys traveling, and has been to Africa, Australia, China, Europe and Mexico, in addition to many states in the United States. She also plays piano and organ. She studied organ in the early 1960′s while at UCLA, playing the Royce Hall 1930 Skinner pipe organ with its 5 manuals and 104 ranks, before it was updated with solid-state equipment in 1982. She was previously a Dean of the Ventura County Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and is currently the Board of Directors President of New West Symphony in Thousand Oaks, CA and also a member of the Organ Historical Society. Jennifer enjoys her husband, two children, and four grandchildren.